Do Not Mistake My Grace For Weakness
by MKAmericanhero
Summary: I love Glee and my favs are Santana and Brittany so I did a little angst/romance/hc story...sort of my way of dealing with all the gay teen suicides in that last month so its kind of like my therapy...hope you enjoy...M rating for language and what not.
1. Chapter 1

You hear stories about people that have been best friends since they were babies; well that pretty much what Brittney and Santana were. Best friends from the time their mothers' shared a hospital room the day each of them were born (they were born within days of each other because Santana being Santana refused to make her grand entrance without some theatrics like making her mother sit through 2 days of labor). They went through school together and even when they were small it was clear that Santana was going to be Brittney's protector, whether she liked it or not. When they were six some kid called Brittney stupid which earned him a black eye and Santana two days suspension, but it was worth it, she would do anything to protect Brittney. When they were 13 some jerk broke up with Brittney in front of half the class and that, well, let's just say that the school choir got a new soprano that afternoon. Santana got a week suspension and a black eye herself from that one and Brittney questioned her about it.

"San, why did you do that, he could of hurt you?"

"Britt, listen to me, first off he wasn't going to hurt me that bad, second he hurt you and that is not ok. Second, you're my family and no one fucks with my family and walks away unscathed ok. I will always protect you, no matter what, you my girl and I got your back." And that was it, they were more than best friends, they were family. It wasn't until a few years later that their being best friends became them being girlfriends, but that was something they kept between the two of them

Ever since freshmen year Brittney and Santana had at least one class together. Not that they ever got anything done in those classes as they were too focused on each other. This year was no different; aside from Glee and Cheerios the two shared a Spanish Class and Geometry. When you added it all up the two spent the better part of the day together which was why Santana couldn't figure out why Brittney was late for Glee. Rachel was rambling on about something annoying, but all Santana could do was stare at her phone and wait for the nagging feeling that Brittney needed her help to go away. Just as she was about to call Brittney again the room fell silent and when Santana looked up she saw Ms. Pillsbury standing in the doorway.

Santana's heart dropped into her stomach when she heard Emma ask her to come with her. She knew something was up with Brittney and she flew into protective mode.

"What happened? Where is she? Is she alright? Is she hurt?"

Before Emma could respond Brittney stepped into the doorway; her eye makeup running down her face, her hair resting on her shoulders and the remnants of a purple slushy clinging to her clothes. Santana was frozen, she literally could not move. She was only snapped back into reality when Rachel handed her a towel from her gym bag. Santana took the towel with a sad smile and walked over to Brittney. She draped the towel around the blonds' now shaking shoulders and as she did Brittney lost all composure and she collapsed into Santana's chest, her body continuing to shake from crying and from the frozen drink that was now all over the place. Santana pulled her closer and rubbed her back and simply waited for the sobbing to subside. When she seemed to have calmed down Santana pulled away a little and took Brittney's face in her hands, "What happened B? Who did this to you?"

In between tears she answered, "football players."

"Did they say why B?"

"Something about fixing me, I don't know what they are talking about San."

"I don't know Brittney, but I'm going to find out and I'm going to make it better, ok. Right now I want you to go to the locker room with Quinn and get cleaned up ok." The blonde nodded and walked into the hallway and as Quinn got up to leave Santana grabbed her arm and pulled her aside, "keep her with you and watch out for her. Call me if you need me. There is an extra pair of clothes in my locker that she can change into." Quinn nodded and followed Brittney to the locker rooms.

As soon as Brittney was out of earshot Santana turned around, her face red with anger, "ok my merry band of misfits, what the hell is going on, come on you all live on gossip let's hear it. Berry? Tell me you know something."

"Sorry."

Finn got a weird look on his face and he slowly raised his hand.

"This is not show and tell Finn, do you have something to say that will help us or what?"

"I didn't think they would actually do anything, I thought it was a joke or something."

"Do I look like I'm laughing Fin, what are you talking about?" Finn dug into his backpack and handed Santana a crumbled piece paper that clearly and email. As she scanned the paper her face became red again.

"Finn, you fucking moron, what part of your pee brain said it was a good idea to not tell someone about this. Two people on this list are in this room, you could have warned them."

"I didn't think they were serious."

Mr. Shue stepped in before Santana could start yelling again, "Santana what is on that paper?" As she was about to answer him her phone went off and she quickly read the message and threw the paper into Mr. Shue's hands. Before she ran out of the room she turned to Puck and Mercedes, then pointed to Kurt, "you two are in charge of keeping him safe, got it." Both of them nodded quickly and with that Santana ran out of the room followed by Ms. Pillsbury.

Rachel turned back toward back to Mr. Shue, "what's on the paper Mr. Shue?"

"It's a list of people to harass and bully because of their sexuality. Kurt and Brittney's names are on it." The room was dead silent as no one really knew what to say.

Santana ran into the locker room and found Quinn standing near the showers, "what happened?"

"She will not stop crying and she is just sitting in the corner of the shower with her clothes still on." Ms. Pillsbury stepped forward, but Santana stopped her, "I've got this one Ms. P." And with that she pulled back the curtain of the shower and saw poor Brittney sitting in the corner of the stall. With her clothes still on Santana stepped into the path of the water, not really caring that she was getting wet. She pulled Brittney to her feet and took off her uniform top and skirt, followed by her underwear. Instead of this looking like a sexual encounter it looked more like a parent caring for a hurting child. After Brittney had actually washed the slushy off her she leaned on Santana's shoulder and started to cry again. They stood there for a few moments before Santana spoke up, "listen Brit, I'm going to get a towel and some clothes and then we're going to go home ok."

"Ok." With that Santana grabbed a towel that Quinn was holding out for her and handed it to Brittney. Santana climbed out of the shower and gave Brittney some privacy to dry off and change into her tank top and sweats. She walked over to Quinn and Ms. Pillsbury, "when she is ready, bring to the choir room and I'll take her home ok."

Ms. Pillsbury tried to stop Santana, "Santana your soaking wet."

"I don't care; I care about getting her home and making her feel safe again. I'll worry about me later." And with that she walked out of the locker room leaving two very confused and genuinely touched women in her wake. She eventually made her way back into the choir room and everyone stared at the dripping wet cheerleader.

"Stop staring at me like I'm the new zoo baby, I'll dry eventually, what do have on the email." Rachel handed it back to Santana, "sent from an anonymous server, probably a coffee shop or library, virtually untraceable."

Santana shot a look that could kill at Finn, "well, genius you have any idea who sent it?"

"No idea, no one mentioned anything about it at practice and this morning it was in my inbox and I printed it out to show Rachel, but I forgot about it until now." Santana rolled her eyes, "well congratulations boy wonder thanks to your inaction Brittney is completely broken and more of your friends are at risk." Finn was going to say something in his own defense, but he realized that a good deal of this was on him, "I'm sorry."

"I sorry I snapped at you, it's not all your fault, just most of it." Everyone was shocked, Santana never apologized to anyone for anything, but when Brittney was involved all bets were off. Finn got up and took his hoodie off and offered it to Santana and she took it and wrapped it around her body. She started to shake slightly from being wet, but she refused to complain. While she stared at the paper trying to find some magical answer as to what to do she felt someone tap her on the shoulder, it was Rachel.

"I know you don't really want my help, but I have an extra pair of shorts in my bag, they aren't much, but they are dry and that's better than nothing." Santana looked up at the diva, "you're alright Berry, thanks." She grabbed the shorts and quickly went to change in the bathroom. She returned with her wet hair falling around her shoulders and still was dressed in Finn's hoodie and was now wearing Rachel's shorts. Santana sat in silence waiting for Brittney to walk in; everyone sat silently until Puck really couldn't take it anymore. He got up and went to the front of the class, "look I get that we're all in shock and all that, but we can't just roll over and take this. Look I know I'm not the most stand up guy and that I give people a lot of shit, but as weird as this group is, we're family and you don't fuck with family. So I say we make a decision right now, we protect our family and anyone else on that list that we can, because even though we give each other shit all the time, there is a line and these guys just crossed it. So I for one am not going to let anymore of my friends get hurt. I offer my full support and protection to Kurt and Brittney, now who is with me."

"No one should be treated like this for any reason, I'm in." Tina stood up next to Puck and soon everyone else was standing and voicing their support. Santana was in slight shock at the rallying of her friends. Puck went over to her and knelt in front of her chair, "hey, no one is gonna hurt your girl again ok, I'll kill 'em first ok. You're not alone in keeping her safe, we're gonna tackle this together and kick some serious ass." Santana smiled and gave him a kiss on the forehead, "softie." They all got down to business, talking about going to the principal in the morning and how they were going to stick together and safety in numbers and what not. As they were planning this Quinn finally came back into the room and Santana walked over to her. "She ready to go home?"

"She is still pretty shaken up, but she's better and I think she's tired, but she's ready to go home. She and Ms. P are grabbing stuff from her locker." Just then both women appeared in the room and without saying a word Santana grabbed both of their bags and walked over to Brittney, "ready to go home babe?" Brittney nodded. "You want me to carry you out to the car." Brittney smiled, she always loved it when Santana did that, but she almost never did it in front of other people because it pretty much gave away that they were a couple. Santana handed both bags to Finn and scooped Brittney up into her arms and effortlessly carried her out of the classroom. Both Fin and Puck walked them out to the car and made sure they got settled ok, before going back into the choir room. As they finished their plans for the coming days Rachel grew oddly quiet and Finn finally said something, "Rach, what's up you haven't said anything in like 15 min?"

"I think I have an idea. I'm going to need about 50 rain ponchos, roughly 20 pairs of sunglasses, towels, extra clothes for everyone and a little willingness to get your hands a little dirty." No one knew what Rachel had up her sleeves, but they liked what they heard and everyone was totally in.


	2. Backseat Sleepover

**Thanks for all the story alerts guys, hope this chapter is to your likely, enjoy and review please.**

Santana dropped Brit off at her house and made sure she got settled inside before she left; her folks weren't home so until Brittney fell asleep she stayed with her in the house. As she pulled away Santana was going through the events of the day and how tomorrow there were going to be some very dead football players. She made it back to her house and while she had no real apatite she sat through dinner with her family. As she sat at the dinner table she pushed her food around her plate and never really ate any of it, she was too worried about Brittney. This mood of Santana's didn't go unnoticed by her mother, but she decided to leave it alone until dinner was over. When they finished their meal her mother made her way upstairs to Santana's room.

She knocked lightly on the door before walking in, "Santana?" Not getting a response she pushed open the door and found her daughter sitting on her bed simply staring at the wall. "Santana, _mija_, are you alright?"

The teen snapped out of her haze, "yeah I'm fine mom."

"You didn't really eat anything at dinner and when you brother called you Satan instead of Santana you didn't even blink let alone threaten to kill him like you usually do, so please don't lie to me and say that your fine."

"It's about Brittney."

"Did you two have a fight or something, did you break up?"

"No it's not th….wait what do you mean did we break up?"

"Santana I'm not blind and I'm not stupid, I can tell by the way the two of you look at each other; she is the only person who can make smile when you're mad, you hold her hand under the table when you think no one is looking, and when she sleeps over you keep your arm wrapped around her all night like you're afraid to let her go. It doesn't take a genius to figure it out honey."

"Why aren't you made at me for this?"

"What is there to be mad about, you love someone and I for one am glad you found someone that can keep you grounded."

"You don't care that it's a girl?"

"It's not how I thought your life would play out, but it's hardly something to get angry at. So what is it about Brittney that has you so worried?" Santana told her mother the long story about what had happened at school that day and when she finished they both sat in silence. "Honey, is Brittney alright?"

"No, I mean I got her to calm down, but you know Brittney she trusts everyone and she never thinks that someone will hurt her so she really doesn't understand why someone would do this to her, and honestly neither do I."

"Honey sometimes there aren't good explanations for why people do things, sometimes they just do hateful things for no reason and good people get hurt."

"I don't know how to make this better for her mama." Her mother got up from the bed and kissed Santana on the head before walking to the door. "Honey things like this are hard to fix and make better, you just have to ride it out with her and be there for her when things get messy. You'll figure out what do_ mija_, but try to get some sleep please."

"Night mom." Santana flopped back onto her bed and grabbed her phone, she punched a few buttons and sent a quick message to Brittney before she followed her mother plea and went to sleep. She had nightmares throughout the night and when she finally woke up she was covered in a cold sweat and her breathing was fast. Even though it was 5am she knew she couldn't go back to sleep so she got ready for school and simply waited for it to be a reasonable hour to leave the house. When she got to school she waited at Brittney's locker like she did every morning, but as the morning wore on, no Brittney. She had no choice, she had to go to History class but now the bad feeling in her stomach had returned. She went through the next few classes almost in a haze; she didn't really pay attention because her mind was elsewhere worrying about where the hell Brittney was. All throughout lunch Santana, tried texting her, but still no answer and with every unanswered text her worry grew. By the time it came time for glee club practice Santana didn't know what to think; was she hurt, did she need help, why wasn't she answering her phone? Mr. Shue walked into the room and started practice, "alright everyone today I want to use some of practice to go over the choreography for our performance next week so if I can get Mike and Brittney to come help out with everyone else." It wasn't until he looked up that he saw that the chair next to Santana's was empty, "Santana where's Brittney?"

"I don't know, she wasn't here today." Santana looked defeated, as if she would start to cry at any moment when Kurt spoke up. "I would have skipped school too, but thankfully my father doesn't care about school gossip."

Santana was confused, "what are you talking about?"

"The list."

"What about it now?"

"It's not just a school matter anymore; whoever made it hacked into the school computer and emailed everyone's parents. If your name was one the list, your parents got the email. My dad just shrugged it off because he knew about me already, he just told me to be safe at school."

Santana was shocked that the nightmare of yesterday was continuing. She quickly grabbed her phone and instead of texting her, she called Brittney. "Come on babe pick up the damn phone." The whole glee club watched as Santana paced back and forth across the room waiting for Brittney to answer the phone. When she received no answer for the fourth time Santana tried her house phone and was surprised by the message she got from the answering machine. Her face turned a weird color and no one was sure if she was mad or horrified and soon she felt a hand on her shoulder, she whipped around to see Quinn standing there with a concerned look on her face, "San, what is it?"

"Her parents answering machine, normally it has her parent's voices and then Brittney's at the end, but now it's just them, not her."

"San, that could mean anything."

"No something is wrong and I have no idea how to fix it." Santana sat back down in her chair and held her head in her hands. The whole room went silent as they watched Santana sit her seat defeated. They went on with practice as usual, mostly because no one else knew how to fix this situation either. After glee, she had to go to Cheerios practice which lasted longer then she would have liked. Her heart wasn't in it and her brain was somewhere else so when practice was over she was happy to finally be able to leave school and go check on Brittney. She said goodbye to Quinn and started walking to her car when she saw something that stopped her. Brittney's car was sitting in the parking lot right next to her's. She ran over to the car and saw that Brittney was inside and it was clear she had been crying. Brittney looked up and when she saw Santana she got out of the car and ran over to her wrapping her up into a huge hug before she started crying again. They stood there for a few minutes before Santana tried to get Brittney to talk, "B baby, can you tell me what happened? Why weren't you in class today?"

Brittney whipped tears away from her eyes and tried to explain what had happened to Santana, "by parents got an email and they started yelling about me being gay and asked me if was true. I told them it was and they told me to get out. So I grabbed my keys and some clothes and left."

"B when did this happen?"

"Last night."

"B why didn't come to my house? Where did you sleep?"

"I didn't want to make trouble for you so I slept in my car." Santana pulled Brittney closer to her and started to cry herself; the idea of her girlfriend sleeping in her car scared her to death and at that moment she was relieved that Brittney was safe. "B why don't you come home with me ok, we can get you something to eat and you can sleep in my bed."

"I don't want people to know I got kicked out, if I go with you your parents will find out."

"Babe they are going to find out eventually."

"I know, but can it be just between you and me for tonight."

"Sure B, but let's go get you something to eat ok and then we can come back if you want." Brittney nodded and they took off for a nearby burger place. Both girls ate their meals in silence, but Santana was just glad that B was eating something. She got a few burgers to go and they made their way back to the school parking lot that was by now almost empty. Santana got out of Brittney's car and motioned for Brittney to follow, "come on B, if we're going to sleep in our cars, let's sleep in mine ok, my back seat lies down so there will be more room." Brittney nodded and got her bag from her trunk and threw it in Santana's car before she climbed in. Brittney curled up next to Santana and Santana wrapped her arms around her and started rocking her back and forth trying to sooth Brittney's pain. After a while Brittney's eyes started to droop, but she kept trying to fight off sleep.

"B it's ok to fall asleep ok, I'll stay awake and protect you ok. No one will hurt you tonight." Brittney nodded and laid down resting her head in Santana's lap. She was asleep in a matter of minutes and Santana was left alone with her thoughts. After about an hour Santana grabbed a book out of her bag and started to do her English homework; about half way through chapter 16 she heard someone knock on the back window of her SUV. She hit the button on her keys that opened the hatch and when it opened there stood Quinn with a very concerned look on her face.

Seeing that Brittney was asleep, she mouthed the words 'what happened'. Santana grabbed a piece of paper and quickly wrote her answer and handed it to Quinn: Parents freaked out and kicked her out, what are you still doing here?"

_I forgot my bag in the gym. Why not take her to your house?_

_She's too scared to have anyone know what happened._ Quinn knew all too well what it was like to be thrown out of your own home and her heart went out to Brittney. She told Santana she would be right back and she turned to go get something from her car. When she returned she had a pillow and a few blankets in her arms, all of which she handed to Santana, she whispered, "it's supposed to be really cold tonight, you'll need these. I'm going to move my car next to yours so you guys are protected on both sides."

"Then how will you get home?"

"You didn't really think I was going to leave you out here by yourselves did you? I'll climb in here and sleep in the passenger seat." And with that Quinn left to go move her car and as she did, she didn't realize that there was one last person still inside the school building. As Quinn parked her car, Mr. Shue was making his way out of the building after finally finishing grading his last stack of papers. When he looked up he saw Quinn getting into Santana's car with a blanket and he became alarmed and confused. He made his way over to the car and opened the back hatch only to find Brittney wrapped in a blanket, asleep in Santana's lap and Quinn lying next to Brittney. He looked at Santana and started to say something, but he was cut off, "Mr. Shue please don't tell anyone, she got kicked out, she has nowhere else to go and I told her I would keep her safe, please just let us stay here for tonight." There were tears in her eyes as she spoke and Mr. Shue felt for her, but he couldn't very well leave three of his female students to sleep in their car. He closed the hatch of the car and made his way over to his own, he then pulled his car up behind Santana's so he was literally boxing them in. He climbed into the backseat of his own car and threw his jacket over his shoulders, content to sleep there for the night if it meant keep his students safe.

Santana smiled as her teacher moved his car and then turned her attention back to the two sleeping blondes in her car. Brittney was still sound asleep and Quinn was out like a light. She knew tomorrow was going to be full of drama so she figured getting some real sleep would be a good idea. She made sure that both Brittney and Quinn had blankets wrapped around them and after throwing one on herself, she settled in next to Brittney and soon fell asleep.

**Please review, it's my crack.**


	3. My Girl

**Thanks again for the story alerts and reviews, more reviews would be awesome, but at least I know people are reading my story. Hope the new chapter is to your liking.**

Santana was woken up by her cell phone alarm clock going off. She untangled herself from Brittany's body and reached into her bag and stopped the disruptive noise. She looked around the car; Brittany and Quinn were both still fast asleep. She nudged Quinn, "Quinn, wake up."

"What time is it S?"

"6 in the morning."

"Are you crazy, go back to sleep."

"The school opens at 6 and I don't know about you, but I could use a shower. We can hop into the locker rooms and clean up before anyone even gets to school."

Quinn sat up slowly, "fine, I'm up, wake Brittany up and lets go." Santana leaned down a moved Brittany's hair out of her face and kissed her cheek, "B, come on we need to get up ok." Brittany's eyes opened slowly. "B I'm going to get some clothes out of your car for you and then we are going to go inside the school and grab a shower ok?" Brittany nodded and Santana climbed out the back of her car. Mr. Shue's car was still sitting there, but he was no longer asleep in the backseat. He was leaning against the side of the car with four coffees resting on the hood of his car. Santana pulled her jacket closer around her and walked over to her teacher. Mr. Shue handed her one of the coffees, "so you going to explain what happened or do I have to guess?"

"Her parents kicked her out cuz of the email, she told them it was true and she ended up sleeping in her car the night before last and she showed up last night and I wasn't about to leave her alone." Santana looked up through tear stained eyes and saw the look her teacher was giving her, "you're going to turn her in aren't you."

"Santana I have to, she can't sleep in her car until graduation and neither can you, it's not safe. The school needs to know and they need to call Social Services; Brittany needs somewhere safe to stay and live until she can either work things out with her parent or until she graduates." Will was about to continue, but a very angry Santana cut him off. "She does have somewhere safe to stay, ok, as long as I am with her she is safe. Last night she needed it to still be a secret, today she knows that everyone will know and that it's the beginning of a really hellish experience and all she wanted was one night to be able to pretend that her life wasn't crashing at her feet, so that is what I gave her." Will was truly moved at her words he smiled, "listen we'll make this as right as we can ok, but you have to work with us, do we have a deal?" Santana nodded her head, "we have a deal on one condition, when you send her into Ms. P's office or where she is going today, please have them call me out of class." Will was about to protest, but once again he was cut off, "Mr. Shue, please I have to keep her safe and be there for her and you know that if you don't write me a note I'm just going to walk out of the classroom and not give a damn about what happens to me. She needs me and I will not turn my back on her. Those are my terms Mr. Shue, take it or leave it." Will shrugged, "fine I will send you note ok."

Finally the car hatch opened and both blondes hoped out and each grabbed a coffee that Mr. Shue had offered them. Quinn went to go get clothes out of her car and then the three of them walked toward the school and into the locker rooms. After cleaning up and getting dressed all three girl made their way into the choir room to hangout until the first period bell rang. Brittany fell back asleep and Santana and Quinn spent their time trying to figure out how best to help her out. Quinn looked up at the clock and realize first period started in 15 min, "we have an assembly this afternoon, don't forget or coach will flip, we can make an excuse for B." Santana nodded and Quinn left the room leaving Santana to wake Brittany up.

"B, come on class starts in a couple of minutes." The emotionally drained teenager got up and followed Santana out of the room and the two started walking to Brittany's first period class. Santana made sure Brittany was settled before she took off running in an effort to be on time for her own class. First period passed by with nothing of any great importance happening and no note came for Santana so she assumed that Brittany was still in her classroom. When she got to second period Santana had to take a quiz and about half way through it Mr. Shue showed up in the doorway. When Santana looked up she grabbed her bag and slammed her quiz down on her teacher's desk. Mr. Shue tried to stop her, "Santana you can finish your quiz, she's just in with Emma, she'll be ok for a few minutes without you." Santana shot him a look that could kill, "screw that quiz, she is far more important than whether or not I know about the Industrial Revolution." Before Will could even try to stop her again, Santana was sprinting down the hallway toward the counseling office. She almost slipped when she tried to stop in front of the office, but she managed to stay upright and burst through Ms. Pillsbury's office. Emma was sitting in the chair next to Brittany trying to get the girl to say something, but Brittany remained silent. Santana dropped her bag at the door and went to the other side of Brittany's chair, kneeling on the floor in front of her.

"B, I'm right here ok, nothing bad is going to happen to you here ok, I'm gonna make this better." Brittany looked at her, her eyes full of unshed tears and as she started to sob she threw her arms around Santana and proceeded to cry into her shoulder. Santana stoked her hair and whispered comforting words in her ear and after 10 minutes of Brittany simply crying Santana picked her up bridal style and walked over to the couch and sat down with Brittany sitting in her lap. She proceeded to rock the girl back and forth trying desperately to sooth her tears; Emma sat back in her chair and watched in amazement, she never pegged Santana Lopez as the nurturing type. After a few more moments, Brittany seemed to have calmed down and she sat up and moved so that she was sitting next to Santana on the couch. Emma pulled her chair over so that she was sitting in front of the girls.

"Brittany, do you think we can talk about what happened at home now?" Brittany looked at Santana as if to see if it was ok to talk about. Santana grabbed Brittany's hand and gave it an encouraging squeeze, "it's ok B, just tell her what happened, I'm right here." Brittany explained about the list and what it's about, she explained how her parent asked her if was true and that's when she lost her composure. She buried her head into Santana's shoulder, not wanting her to have to keep talking Santana jumped in. "B told her folks it was true, that she was gay and they told her to get out of their house; she slept in her car that night and in mine last night with Quinn and me."

Emma was truly at a loss, she had had students come out before, some of them had some disapproving parents, but this was a new one for her. "Brittany, do you have any family members nearby that you can stay with?" Brittany shook her head, "most of my family lives out of the state. Please don't send me away to live with them, I don't want to leave."

Emma gave the girl a sad smile, "I know Brittany, but you can't keep sleeping in your car and you need to stay with someone while we figure this out." Brittany wasn't making eye contact and just kept mumbling 'don't send me away' under breath. Santana couldn't stand seeing her girlfriend in this much pain. She placed her finger under Brittany's chin and moved her head so that she was looking right at her. "No one is going to send you away ok, I will not let them ok."

"But how…" Brittany was quickly cut off.

"No, no buts B. Look at me. When we were kids what did I tell you when that guy broke up with you?"

"You said that I'm family and no one fucks with family."

Santana smiled, "that's right and what else did I tell you?"

"That you would always protect me and that I was your girl."

"Brittany, I meant it then and I mean it now. You are my girl, ok, you're my whole damn world ok, and no one, no one, will ever hurt you without me hurting them back. You're my family baby and you do anything to protect family, ok. I meant what I said when we were younger I will always protect you, even if it means putting myself in danger, I will always protect you. I'm going to call my folks and you'll come live with us ok. You can have my brother's old room and that way you are right across the hall from me." Santana took out her cell phone and quickly dialed her mother. It took a good half hour to work everything out, but when she got off the phone she sat back down next to Brittany.

"B, my mom said that you're going to come live with us ok. She's going to contact a lawyer so we can do this by the book and she is going to find a way to get your stuff out of your house. Ok, so how about you go into the bathroom and rinse off your face and makeup and we'll go from there ok." Brittany nodded and before she got up off the couch she gave Santana a quick kiss and then left the room leaving Santana alone with Emma. Once the door closed behind her Santana turned towards Emma, "alright let's have it."

"I don't know what you mean Santana."

"Please, I'm sure that you have like half a million questions about this, so now's your chance."

"Are you sure it's ok that she stays with your family?"

"I told you she **is** family, I love her and my family thinks the world of her and we were going to move in with each other after high school anyway, this just makes sense." Emma played with the notebook in her lap nervously, "So when you say that you love her, you mean you 'love' her."

Seeing that Emma was trying to be tactful in her questioning Santana decided to be blunt, "yes I love her, we've been together for about 3 months, yes my parents know about me and us and our friends know."

"Santana you keep saying that you're going to protect her and keep her safe, but I'm concerned that with you taking care of her that you will end up not taking care of yourself. I mean to say, you're taking care of Brittany, but who is going to take care of you?"

"Look Ms. P with all due respect I can take care of myself and Brit, I've been doing it since we were kids. It's my labor of love, I never get tired of protecting her because it makes me feel like someone needs me to be around and everyone needs to feel needed. And she just loves me, no matter what she loves me; do you know how rare that is? I put up a lot of walls and most people think I'm this horrible person, but B was the first person that saw past all of it and loved me for me. I can't imagine my life without her in it and so all of this shit that she is going through right now, I have no problem stand by her and helping her get through it and if I get a little dirty in the process so be it. Besides we have our friends looking out for us so we aren't alone."

"Santana, Brittany moving in with you solves part of the problem, but there are still a great many hurdles to climb over in this situation, primarily, this whole list business. Until we figure out who sent it, everyone on it is in danger. It could just mean a lot of slushie attacks or it could mean something far more serious. And speaking of the list, why aren't you on it?"

"Look Ms. P I don't know why I'm not on it, but I will take care of that later today ok, but as for everything else, just please trust me. No one and I mean no one is going to hurt Brittany while I'm around. I don't care if it means cleaning up after a slushie attack or if it means taking a bullet for her, I will protect her with my dying breath, count on it."

"Santana I believe you, just please be smart and be careful about things, this is serious and people can get hurt, yourself included. Please remember, my door is always open ok, if you or Brittany need anything." At that moment Brittany reappeared in the doorway with her face free of makeup smudged by tears. Santana grabbed her bag, walked over, gave Brittany a kiss and the two of them walked out of the office as the bell rang for glee to begin. They walked inside and got settled into their seats. When Mr. Shue walked in before he could even say anything Santana stood up and pulled him aside. "I know we need to practice for the assembly, but I have a song that I want to do before we perform and I need your help to pull it off, please." Will nodded, mostly because as Santana handed him the sheet music he knew what she was up to. For that practice he asked Brittany to go in his office with Quinn and find some sheet music that he "lost". That lie bought them about 20min, just enough time to let Santana practice. When the two cheerleaders returned the whole group practice their song and with the sound of the bell they were off to the assembly.

When they all filed into the auditorium it was full of students and Mr. Shue went over to finish setting everything up. Santana got Brittany settled in between Puck and Quinn before she went to go join Mr. Shue. After the principal introduced Mr. Shue, Will stepped up to the microphone.

"Afternoon everyone, today we have a pretty sweet set up planned for you, but before we begin the main performance one of our glee members has a special performance of her own that she wishes to share with you all. So without further ado, Santana Lopez everyone." Mr. Shue took his seat and Santana took the microphone out of its stand, "Hey everyone, before I sing this song I want to dedicate it to my best friend who has been through a lot lately and I want her and all of you to listen very carefully to the lyrics of this song because they hold a special meaning for me and I hope you all get the message." Santana nodded to the band to start the music and after taking a deep breath she started to sing.

_Somethin' in your eyes, makes me wanna lose myself  
Makes me wanna lose myself, in your arms  
There's somethin' in your voice, makes my heart beat fast  
Hope this feeling lasts, the rest of my life_

If you knew how lonely my life has been  
And how long I've been so alone  
And if you knew how I wanted someone to come along  
And change my life the way you've done

It feels like home to me, it feels like home to me  
It feels like I'm all the way back where I come from  
It feels like home to me, it feels like home to me  
It feels like I'm all the way back where I belong

Santana's gaze never broke away from Brittany's. Both women had tears streaming down their cheeks as did most people in the audience.  
_  
A window breaks, down a long, dark street  
And a siren wails in the night  
But I'm alright, 'cause I have you here with me  
And I can almost see, through the dark there is light_

Santana walked over and knelt down in front of Brittany and took one of her hands in her own, looking straight into her eyes while she sang.  
_  
Well, if you knew how much this moment means to me  
And how long I've waited for your touch  
And if you knew how happy you are making me  
I never thought that I'd love anyone so much_

It feels like home to me, it feels like home to me  
It feels like I'm all the way the back where I come from  
It feels like home to me, it feels like home to me  
It feels like I'm all the way back where I belong  
It feels like I'm all the way back where I belong

Santana wiped away the tears that were still streaming down her cheeks. Brittany was crying as was most of the girls in the glee club and the boys were floored by how well Santana had just sung. As she finished the song and music faded out Santana walked up to Brittany, pulled her up out of her seat and kissed her in front of the entire school. They ignored the applause and whistling and when they broke the kiss Santana whispered in Brittany's ear, "no more hiding, we're gonna do this together. I love you B." Santana let go of Brittany and reached into her back pocket and pulled out a piece of paper. She wrote something down on the paper and after grabbing Brittany's wrist and urging her to follow her lead Santana walked over to where some of the jocks were sitting. She handed the paper to one of the members of the football team with a big smile on her face, "I just thought you should have all the facts and if you even think about coming after her again, make no mistake it will be the last thing you'll do on this earth." With that Santana walked out of the auditorium with Brittany and most of the glee club following behind them. When the jock looked down at the paper he had been handed there, in perfect handwriting, was the name Santana Lopez added to the list of targeted students.

**Let me know what you think folks. Next chapter we see what Rachel's plan was from Ch. 1. Please review. Thanks.**


	4. Moving Day

When they left the gym the whole group headed back into the choir room everyone settled into the chairs and Santana pulled her chair right next to Brittany's. The whole room was full with frantic chatter, everyone talking about what just happened. Santana looked around the room and then she realized that Brittany was unusually quiet.

"You ok baby?"

"Why did you do that San, now they are going to come after you too?"

"B, no one is going to hurt me ok, we'll be fine and we'll figure it out together ok."

Brittany smiled, but the smile soon faded, "we gonna get slushied aren't we?"

"Probably."

"I'm sorry."

"Why are you sorry B?"

"If I didn't love you, you wouldn't be in this situation and everything would be fine." Santana sighed heavily and turned her body so that she was facing Brittany, "B never apologize for loving me, if you didn't love me, if I didn't have you my life, my life would suck and I would be incredibly lonely. Being around you, being with you makes me happy and I treat people better and I'm less bitchy. I mean let's face it B without you I would bitch people out 24/7. You make me a better person and if I have to go through this with you so be it, cuz I'm not going anywhere anytime soon." Brittany smiled came back onto her face and she snuggled into Santana's shoulder and after a moment Santana felt someone tap her other shoulder. When she turned around Rachel Berry was standing there looking slightly apologetic for disrupting the moment.

"What Berry?"

"I thought you might like to hear our plan to help you guys out?" Santana nodded. "Come on B, lets go see what Berry cooked up." The two girls walked over to the piano where everyone had seemed to congregate. Sitting on the piano top was several packages of ponchos, a handful of whistles and sunglasses. Santana looked at the supplies and turned to Rachel, "ok Berry what gives, I'm not Macgyver, so how do all of these go together to form anything that even remotely resembles a plan?"

"Glad you asked Santana. We all promised to help protect you and let's be honest that is going to include dealing with slushies. That is where the ponchos come in. Everyone take a couple, where them from class to class, I've learned that is cut down on the amount of slushie stained laundry you have to do. The whistles will be given to you, Brittany and Kurt and when you feel as though you are in danger blow the whistle and if one of us is ear by we will come running and if we aren't well then it certainly would draw the attention of somebody nearby, hopefully a teacher."

Santana nodded the basic plan made sense and it would help them out until whoever made that list was dealt with, but there was one thing she didn't understand. "What's with the sunglasses?"

"I think they look cool. And they add some intimidation to our rag tag group."

"So basically they serve no real purpose?"

"Precisely."

"You all realize that by doing this you're going to get slushied just as much as the two of us right?"

"We know, but we're family and we stick together through the good, the bad and high school hell." Santana smiled and looked around at everyone who was stocking up on rain ponchos and were trying to look cool in their sunglasses. For a brief moment there was peace in the group, but it soon faded when Santana remembered what had happened earlier. She pulled Brittany aside and pulled out a notebook, "ok B, so you're going to move in with me right, so we have to figure out a way to get your stuff out of your house and over to mine. Why don't you write down everything that you want out of your room so that when we go over there we can grab it quickly and get out of there. Now think B, think, is there a time when both of your folks are out of the house for a couple of hours so that we can go in and get your stuff."

Brittany thought for a minute before she pulled out her day planner, "they have a dinner party with my dad's business partners tonight; they will probably be home late."

Santana rubbed her arm and smiled, "that perfect B, we'll grab some boxes from U-haul and we'll get your stuff over to my place before they come home, ok?"

"How are we going to move all that stuff by ourselves?"

"We'll manage it B, we'll just work really fast." As she stopped talking Santana realized that the room had fallen silent and when she looked up everyone was starring at her. "What?"

Everyone wanted to say something, but it was Puck who spoke up, "there is no way you're going to be able to get all her stuff to your place in a matter of hours by yourselves. You're going to need some extra man power."

Santana smirked, "You offering to help?" Mercedes spoke up, "we are all offering to help. It can be like a moving party. If we split up the work we can have her room empty in two hours flat and start moving it over to you place."

Tina interjected, "if we split up into to two groups, one groups can pack up Brittany's room and the other group can get the room at Santana's ready."

Santana had to admit it was a good idea and probably the only way they were going to be able to pull this off in the span of a few hours. She turned towards Brittany, "what do you say Britt, everyone helps out and we get your stuff over to my place by the end of the day." Brittany smiled and for the first time that day seemed truly happy. Santana turned to the group, "ok everyone, it's a moving party. Figure out who is going to which house and we are going to have to figure out how to move all this stuff, so we need to figure out who's car can fit the most crap."

Always the planner Rachel jumped in and started to feverishly write down who was in which group and whose car was going to be used and a number of other things. Santana sat back and let her take the reins while she and Brittany sat in the back of the room and simply sat there wrapped up in each other, trying to calm down from the craziness of the day. The bell rang 20 minutes later disrupting their peace. Brittany's next class was in another part of the school and Puck offered to walk her there, making Santana feel comfortable enough to go to English. By the grace of God, the rest of the day went by without incident and at the end of the school day everyone met up in the choir room. Everyone agreed on the groups and when they would meet up and where. Everyone headed home and Santana and Brittany went to Santana's house.

The drive over was quiet and when they pulled into the garage both girls sat in the car in silence until Brittany spoke up, "what do I say to your mom, how do I explain this?"

Santana grabbed hold of Brittany's hand, "you do not have to tell her anything, she knows what happened and she and I are going to help you and make this right." Brittany smiled and got out of the car, grabbing her bag in the process and followed Santana into the house. When they walked in the door Santana's mother was sitting at the dining room table with a pile of papers in front of her, but she looked up from them when the girls walked in the door. She got up from the table and kissed Santana on the top of her head, "hi mom." As her mother let go of Santana, she quickly pulled Brittany up into a big hug making it difficult for the girl to breathe. Santana tapped her mother on the shoulder, "mom, she loves you too, but she can't breathe." The older woman let the blonde go, "sorry, how did the rest of school go?"

Santana waved her mother off and signaled that she would fill her in later, "B why don't you go up to my room and change so that when the others are ready we can start moving." Brittany nodded and gave Santana a quick kiss on the check before running upstairs to her girlfriend's room. When left alone Santana turned to her mother and let a few stray tears fall before being wrapped up in her mother's arms.

"That bad?"

"Good and bad; everyone in Glee is being really chill and supportive, but it was just a really long day and now everyone knows about us so they're going to come after me now too. And I'm ok with that we can handle it together, but I just don't understand how they can do this to their own daughter."

"I don't know how they can either honey, but she is going to move in here and we will figure this whole mess out together. What is this about moving things?"

"Her parents are going to be out of the house for a few hours and the Glee club offered to help move her stuff in here, so it's going to get kind of crazy in here in about 2 hours."

"I guess that means there will be a few more for dinner? Ok, you two go get ready, I'm going to the store to grab some things for dinner and I will be back in a bit ok." Santana nodded as her mother grabbed her keys and headed out the door. Santana headed upstairs and when she walked in her room she saw that Brittany was wearing a pair of Santana's shorts and one of her tank tops. Santana walked over and wrapped her arms around Brittany's waist and kissed the base of her neck. She liked it when B left her hair down and even though the girl always looked gorgeous, Santana liked it when she wore her clothes.

"My mom left for the store, I think she is going to cook for the whole gang so when we are done with moving we can have a home cooked meal, that sound good?" Brittany shook her head and rested her hands on top of Santana's. "Good, let me change into some work clothes and we'll call everyone ok."

"Can you wear that tshirt I got you for Christmas last year?"

"B anytime I lean over in that shirt my boobs look like they are going to fall out, I'd probably end up flashing everyone." A wicked smile flashed across Brittany's face, "I know." Santana blushed slightly and dug in her closet to find the shirt that Brittany was talking about and she put it on, but not before putting on a camisole underneath. The girls made their way downstairs and went into the garage to find some boxes and tape. They both realized they were going to need more of both so Santana pulled out her phone and dialed Puck.

"What up S?"

"B and I are changed and ready so when can you guys get everything started?"

"We're working out trying to get boxes and what not and then we will be over so like, 20min. Do we come to your place first or B's?"

"Mine, we have to make sure her parents are gone before we go to her's. Call me when you guys get close." After she ended that call with Puck she dialed Quinn and Rachel answered her phone, "Berry why did you answer Quinn's phone?"

"She was in the bathroom changing clothes and I figured if it was you calling you we're probably ready for us to come over so Quinn told me to answer her phone."

"Whatever, the boys are trying to get a hold of more boxes and supplies before they head over to my place you guys should just come over whenever you finish changing. We can start getting things ready here and then we know the coast is clear at B's we can split into the teams and start moving her stuff over here."

"Sounds good we'll be over in 30. Bye Santana." Santana threw her phone onto the table and sat down next to Brittany. After a moment of silence Brittany looked over at Santana, "should I be sad?"

"Sad about what babe?"

"Most people when they move, they get sad right? Well, I'm moving out of my home and I'm not sad."

"B, you got kicked out of your house, it's different and besides your probably not sad because you get to move in with me and that makes you feel happy, right?"

Brittany nodded, "Good, I like it when you're happy, now let's go make sure the room is ready for everyone to work in ok, the last time anyone was in there it had a bunch of random things in it and it could probably stand to be aired out a bit." They both headed up stairs and tried sorting through the room; they opened the windows and started moving the contents of the room around. They were interrupted by the doorbell ringing. Santana went down stairs and opened the door to Puck, Quinn and Rachel.

"You guys are early, did you all figure out who's car could hold the most stuff?"

Puck rubbed the back of his neck, "sort of, the whole car thing sort of fell through."

"What, what the hell do you mean it fell through, how do you suggest we move all this crap?"

Punk shrugged, "I don't know I was thinking we could use that." As he said it Santana stepped outside the door and saw a uhaul truck pull up in front of her house will Finn and Mike in the cab. She looked to Puck who simply said, "I figured this would get the job down faster."

Santana didn't know what to say so she gave Puck a kiss on the top of his head, "thank you."


	5. Going Home

**Sorry for the long wait guys, school once again got the better of me with an 18 page paper on the Catholic Church's views on homosexuality. Thanks for hanging it there and waiting, hope you like the new installment. Please review.**

Once everyone got out of the truck and their cars they all grabbed handfuls of boxes and tape and hauled them into the house. Everyone settled into the living room and Santana called Brittany downstairs to joint hem. When she came down the stairs and took her place next to Santana and upon seeing her sit Rachel spoke up.

"Ok everyone, lets split up into our teams; I have Kurt, Quinn, Mercedes, Santana and Brittany over at Brittany's house, Mike, Sam and Artie here cleaning out the room and Tina, Finn, Puck and myself as the in between moving team. Any questions? No, ok let's hit it people we have exactly four hours."

With that Mike grabbed some boxes and headed to the spare bedroom. Santana grabbed her keys and Quinn followed suit as they were the only two people in the group with SUV's. Once they got settled into their cars the caravan took off for Brittany's house. Santana drove around the block once to be sure the house was empty and when they were sure the coast was clear she pulled up out in front of the house. She told Puck to park down the street a few houses so they didn't draw attention to what they were doing. Brittany quickly undid the lock with her key, which she was surprised still worked, she was sure they would have changed the locks by now. Puck, Finn, Santana and Tina walked in with arms full of boxes and packing tape and followed Brittany up to her room. When they got to the room they dove into work; the dirty laundry was thrown into one huge box that was then marked carefully by Rachel before being put into the hallway. Everyone split into teams to work on the room, Quinn and Mercedes emptied the drawers and closet, Puck and Finn boxed up the bookshelf and other random items that they found around the room and Santana along with Brittany started taking down posters and pictures from her walls, leaving Rachel to label everything and keep an eye on the time. Within about 2 hours almost the entire room was empty and Puck, Finn and Tina began moving boxes down into the small moving van and into the cars. Brittany was taking down the corkboard that once hung above her desk and when she did a picture fell off of it. Santana picked it up and she smiled when she saw the picture; it was from the summer before when the two girls had gone to the fair grounds, the picture showed Santana kissing Brittany on the tip of her nose. Lost in her memory Santana didn't realize that Brittany was lost in the same memory and had tears streaming down her face because of it and when she looked up Brittany was close to sobbing.

"Hey B what's wrong, you always loved that picture?"

Brittany shook her head and took the picture from Santana, "I do love it, but it confuses me. My mom said it was wrong, that me loving you was wrong, but in that picture, how happy we were that day, that doesn't look wrong to me. I just don't get it." Brittany starred at the photo as if it was going to answer her confusion, but instead she was soon wrapped up in Santana's arms as the Latina whispered in her ear, "it's not wrong B, we're not wrong ok, loving someone the way we love each other is never wrong ok and don't let anyone every tell you otherwise." For a few moments the girls stayed there and forgot where they were and why they were there. They were only brought back to reality when Rachel cleared her throat and when Santana looked up she saw all of them starring at the two girls.

"Sorry Santana, but the packing is done so we figured we should get out of here sooner rather than later since we are slightly ahead of schedule." Santana nodded and wiped away a few stray tears from Brittany's face, "come on baby, let's go home." Before they walked out of the now bare bedroom Brittany threw off the covers on what used to be her bed and when she walked out the door in her hand she held a blanket that looked like it was made for a child. Quinn was about to ask what it was, but Santana shot her a look that could kill, so she stayed quiet. All of them headed downstairs and after locking the house they made a quick getaway and sped off toward Santana's house.

They pulled up in front of the house and everyone started unloading the boxes from the truck and both cars. Santana look around the spare bedroom and saw that the glee members in charge of that room had done a pretty good job of clearing it out; they even stripped the bed so that fresh sheets could be put on. The room was quickly filled with boxes and a few suitcases and everyone went straight to work unloading it. Brittany sat on the bed sorting through things and telling everyone where she wanted things to go. Quinn and Finn helped put up all her posters and pictures on the wall while Santana took the box of Brittany's laundry and threw them into the washing machine. About half way through the unpacking process Santana mother walked through the front door and saw that her house had literally been taken over by the Glee club. Puck and Tina helped the older Lopez put away her groceries and helped her start dinner. Back in the room things were winding down; six boxes and one suitcase remained to be unpacked. Upon seeing this Santana pulled Kurt and Quinn out into the hallway.

"I need you two to go run an errand for me."

Quinn looked puzzled, "what did B forget something?"

Santana shook her head, "no I need you to take this to the photo place down the street and have them blow it up to 8.5x11 and buy a frame for it." Santana handed Quinn the picture of Brittany and her that she had found in her room earlier. She handed Kurt a 50 dollar bill and the two glee members made their way downstairs and to Quinn's car. Santana turned her attention back to the room and she saw that Brittany had plugged in her ipod and was searching for a song. The rest of the team unloaded the last few boxes over the next half hour and when they finished they grabbed the collapsed boxes and moved them downstairs leaving the two girls alone in the room. As Santana hung the last poster a song came on the ipod that made her smile and as she got down off the ladder she started to sing the song to Brittany.

On the days I can't see your eyes,  
I don't even want to, open mine.  
On the days I can't see your smile,  
Well I'd rather sit, wait the while.  
For the days I know you'll be near,  
'Cause a day without you, just isn't fair.  
See the days I can hear you voice,  
I'm left without a choice. 

Santana wrapped her arms around Brittany's waist from behind, pulling her close to her own body.

Plus I get weak in the knees,  
Fall head over heels baby,  
And every other cheesy cliché`.  
Yes I'm swept off my feet,  
Oh my heart skips a beat.  
But there's really only one thing to say.

God damn your beautiful to me,  
Your everything, yeah that's beautiful  
Yes to me, Oh

Brittany turned around so that she was facing Santana and the two of them started to dance in a small circle while Santana continued to sing.

I can't find the words to explain,  
Just how much you got me going insane.  
When you speak to me sometimes we fight,  
Oh I stutter my words i say never mind.  
'Cause even when you just walk by,  
Well I look around to seem occupied.  
'Cause I'm trying so hard to hide,  
Yeah, All these feelings inside.

'Cause I get weak in the knees,  
Fall head over heels baby,  
And every other cheesy cliché`.  
Oh I'm swept off my feet,  
My heart skips a beat.  
But there's really only one thing to say.

God damn your beautiful to me, Oh  
Your everything, Yeah, that's beautiful  
Yes to me, Ohhh  
Yes to me, Ohhh

Yeah your beautiful..  
Yeah your beautiful..  
God damn, your beautiful,  
To me,  
To me.

As the music died down Santana leaned in and gave Brittany a soft and sweet kiss, when she pulled away Brittany laid her head on Santana's shoulder and hugged her tighter. They would have stayed there for a while longer but a voice from the doorway caused them to break away from each other.

"Sorry to interrupt, but dinner is ready." Santana's mother stood in the doorway leaning against the frame with a smile on her face and a few stray tears in her eyes. She never pegged Santana for a hopeless romantic, but when it came to Brittany, Santana would do just about anything to make her happy. Brittany walked out of the room first leaving mother and daughter alone.

"I've never heard you sing like that before."

"You've heard me sing before."

"Not like that I haven't. I've heard you sing pop songs and rock and songs for competition, but I've never heard you sing a romantic song like that before. You had tears in your eyes throughout the whole thing and what I find adorable and slightly moving is that I was standing here the whole time and you never noticed because you were so focused on Brittany. It was like nothing else in this world mattered or existed outside of the two of you."

Santana blushed and truthfully just wanted her mother to stop talking; she hated it when other people saw that Brittany made her a softie. "Whatever, it was just a song and dinner is going to get cold." As she walked outside the room her mother caught her arm and made her turn around, "don't do that, don't brush this off as if it didn't mean anything."

Santana took a deep breath and looked her mother in the eye, "I love her."

Her mother pulled her into a hug and kissed the top of her head, "I know you do baby, she loves you too. Now what do you say we go feed that group of singers some dinner before they riot." Both women made their way downstairs and joined everyone else at the dinner table. There was enough food to feed a small army, which was good because essentially that is what the glee members were. Everyone ate and talked and for a brief moment everyone forgot the horrible events of the previous days. When all the food was gone everyone headed into the living room and started watching a movie. About an hour into it most of the teenagers were sound asleep on the couches, chairs and the floor. When he walked in the front door, Mr. Lopez was understandably confused as to why there was a large group of teenagers asleep in his living room. His wife briefly explained why they were all there and he shrugged and made his way into his study, it had been a long day and he would get the details from his wife in the morning. Mrs. Lopez shut off the lights in the living room and made sure the group had blankets and pillows before she headed up stairs to bed. When she walked past Brittany's room she noticed Brittany and Santana laying on the bed wrapped up in each other. Santana was rubbing Brittany's back and softly humming to her while Brittany laid there clutching the blanket she had taken from her bed close to her chest. Soon the movement and the humming stopped because both Santana and Brittany were sound asleep. Mrs. Lopez grabbed a blanket and covered both girls with it before turning off the light. Before she hit the lights a picture caught her eye; hanging above the light switch was the framed picture of the two girls together that Kurt and Quinn had taken to have framed earlier. She smiled and turned the lights off before closing the door behind her.

**Hope everyone liked the chapter and please review. Any suggestions are welcomed, I have an idea of where I want to take this, but I'm open to ideas.**

**Thanks.**


	6. Two Inches to the Right

**Sorry for the delay everyone; Christmas craziness and no holiday would be complete without my mother and I fighting over something. See you in the New Year everyone. Reviews are great to read and help feed my muse.**

The next morning Santana woke up and while still in a sleepy haze she turned over hoping to feel Brittany there, but instead of her girlfriend's warm body she was met with the feeling of cold sheets. This feeling forced Santana to wake up completely and after realizing that it was well past 10 she pushed the blanket off of her and made her way downstairs. As she walked down stairs she heard people in the kitchen and the clunking of pots and pans. When she turned the corner into the kitchen she saw Quinn, Rachel, Brittany and her mother all clamoring around the kitchen trying to make breakfast which proved to be difficult as they were all laughing rather hard and had a hard time doing anything. Santana's mother looked up and saw her daughter and tried to stifle her laughter, "morning dear, hungry?"

Santana looked at her mother with a weird look on her face, "yeah, what's so funny?" No sooner had she asked the question than Brittany turned around and was covered with a fine layer of flour.

"Oh baby, what happened to you, did you lose the fight with breakfast?"

Brittany looked confused, "I didn't fight the breakfast, I tried to make pancakes and…" The blonde trailed off and tears started to well up in her eyes; everyone saw this happen and before they could assure Brittany that it was ok Santana had the girl wrapped up her arms and was cleaning off her face with a towel.

"It's ok babe, recipes are confusing for me too. Look on the bright side; you look totally adorable covered in flour." Santana leaned forward and kissed her softly on the lips before pulling away and gently brushing flour out of Brittany's hair. "Babe, why don't you go shower and we can finish breakfast ok?" Brittany nodded and headed upstairs leaving the other women to finish up in the kitchen, when Santana turned around her mother and two classmates were staring at her like she grew a second head.

"What?"

"If anyone else in this room was covered in flour you would be laughing it up and making fun of them." Quinn pointed out to her friend. Santana rolled her eyes, "whatever, we gonna finish this food, cuz I'm hungry? Where are the rest of our merry band of misfits, didn't you all pass out down here last night?"

"Most of them had to head home early this morning because they had weekend plans with their families."

"And you two didn't have anything better to do then hang out here all day?"

"Nope, besides we rather spend time together than with our families."

"Get a room Berry, I didn't realize that you and Quinn had a thing going on." Santana was totally kidding, but when she looked up from the batter she was stirring both Quinn and Rachel's faces were beet red and both had a look of guilt on their faces. All three girls were silent and in an effort to break the awkward silence Santana's mother jumped in to try to help, "Rachel, Quinn why don't you two set the table while we finish up in here."

Thankful for the chance to end the conversation Rachel grabbed Quinn and they headed into the dining room. Santana focused her attention back on the pancakes that were on the griddle. By the time she was finished Brittany came bounding down the stairs in some sweats and a tank top with her hair pulled back in a pony tail. She walked up behind Santana and wrapped her arms around her waist and gently kissed her neck. They stayed like that for while, simply enjoying being wrapped up in each other and they were only interrupted when Santana heard her mother clear her throat in an effort to get their attention.

"Not that you two are disgustingly cute, but I think we should eat while everything is still hot." Brittany let go of Santana and picked up the plate of pancakes that were sitting on the counter and brought them to the table. Santana started to walk to the table, but her mother stopped her.

"What?"

"We have an appointment with my lawyer tomorrow. I called her parents to tell them the time and all that, they haven't called me back."

"Mom, why did you do that, now they know where she is and they can come marching in here and take her back and…." Before she could continue on with her ranking Santana felt her mother pull her into a hug that if nothing else stifled her shouting. "They can't take her back. I asked him and the lawyer said that legally they abandoned her; we are her emergency contact at school so it stands to reason that she is with us."

"But…"

"No Santana, no buts. Do you trust me?"

"Of course I do."

"Then trust me and let me handle this, you're a teenager and this isn't your fight. Your father and I aren't going to let anything bad happen to her, ok?" Santana nodded and before she broke loose of her mother's she said something in a voice not much louder than a whisper, "I can't lose her, I won't."

Her mother rubbed her back, "I know baby, it will be alright, just us handle it ok, go eat while the food is still hot." She kissed the top of Santana's head and turned around to turn off the stove and as she did she say Santana turn around, "Mom."

"Yeah honey."

"You were wrong. You said this wasn't my fight, but it is. I will never let anyone hurt her, no one. She's my girl mom and I love her, I told her when we were kids that no one would ever hurt her and I'll be damned if I start breaking that promise now. It's my fight because she's **my** girl." With that she walked over to the table and joined in the gossip and laughing that the others had started. Mrs. Lopez stood shell shocked; she never heard her daughter talk that passionately before about anything, she only hoped that that passion wouldn't get her hurt in the process of protecting Brittany. The group finished their breakfast and managed to clean up the kitchen before heading back upstairs and settling in Santana's room. After about an hour Rachel and Quinn decided they needed to head to their respective homes as it was getting late in the day and they didn't want their families to worry. After they said their goodbyes Santana settled onto her bed next to Brittany and switched on a movie that had started on TV. About an hour later when the movie was almost over Santana looked over and Brittany was half awake. She leaned over and kissed her on the nose, "Brit, baby wake up."

"I wasn't sleeping."

"Uh huh, could have fooled me. Listen I'm gonna go shower before we head out this afternoon ok, you want to join me." Santana nuzzled Brittany's neck and now the blonde was totally awake. "That's a tempting offer, but I think I'm going to take a nap." Santana gave Brittany one more kiss and jumped off the bed and headed for the bathroom, "holler if you need me."

About ten minutes later Brittany was woken up by the doorbell ringing and someone shouting downstairs. When she stood at the door and opened it slightly she heard her name being yelled through the house by an all too familiar voice; her father's. Brittany slowly made her way down the stairs and saw what was causing all the noise; her parents were standing in the doorway shouting at Santana's mother and yelling at each other. Mrs. Lopez was trying to deescalate the situation and calm everyone down, but the yelling continued and it only stopped when Brittany came downstairs. When her father looked up red flash in eyes, "you ungrateful brat, you cause this upheaval in our family and then you come back into our home and think that you have the right to take belongings out of our home."

"I didn't take anything of yours; they were my clothes, my stuff, none of it was yours." Her father lunged forward and before Mrs. Lopez could stop him he had his hand wrapped around Brittany's wrist and he was gripping it tightly. "Everything you have, you have because I gave it to you and I sure as hell can take it away."

"Dad let go you're hurting me." As she said it he pushed her hard and she stumbled into the wall behind her. Before he could get another blow in Mrs. Lopez positioned herself between him and Brittany. "Ok, that's it get the hell out of my house, you will not hurt any child of mine under my own damn roof." Roger Pierce turned a completely new shade of red before barking, "your child, open your eyes Angela, that is mine and as far as I'm concerned you can keep her, but she will learn her lesson." Because of his size Mr. Pierce easy pushed Mrs. Lopez out of his way and in one swift motion had his hand gripping Brittany's neck and pulled her forward. As he did this Brittany remembered what Santana had said before she got in the shower; she knew it was a long shot, but she was pretty sure that in the next few minutes she would be dead so it was worth it to try. She used all her breath to scream Santana's name at the top of her lungs. As it left her mouth she was then thrown back into fighting against her father hoping that she could give herself enough time for Santana to come downstairs.

Normally when you're in the shower you can't hear anything outside that space, but that day luck was on Brittany's side because as Santana shut off the water she heard a muffled scream, but the point was she heard it. She knew it was Brittany's voice and without thinking twice she grabbed her robe and threw it on has she rushed into her parent's bedroom. When she found what she was looking for she ran downstairs to see her mother trying to pull Roger Pierce off his daughter and Brittany trying to fend off his attack. Something in Santana snapped and she quickly did the only thing she could.

There are a few sounds in this world that are unmistakable; loading shells into a shotgun is one of them. When Santana locked the gun into place Roger Pierce stopped dead in his tracks and let Brittany fall to the ground in front of him before he turned his attention to the half naked teenager holding the shotgun and aiming it right at him. He smirked and started to walk towards Santana, "you're not going to shoot me."

"Really, and why not?"

"Because you don't have the guts to kill a grown man, let alone fire that gun once." He took one more step toward Santana before she fired the gun. Everyone stood still and it was silent until the gun was loaded yet again. The first round had gone into the wall behind Roger Pierce; two inches to the right and it would have gone through his head. Santana smirked when she saw that he was actually afraid of her, "Mr. Pierce I have a lot of things, but the one thing I don't have is a shortage of guts. I've been firing guns since I was 10 and I have a shot that could kill. That first one was a warning, but make no mistake the next one will not miss. So you have exactly 30 seconds to get the hell out of my house and hear me when I say this if you so much as even think about coming back here I will not hesitate in taking your life. No one, least of all you, fucks with my family and by the way your 30 seconds started 10 seconds ago." Roger was trying to figure out if the teen was bluffing, but his wife had already walked out the door.

"Tick tock Roger, 10 seconds." Roger glared at the girl and started for the door, "this isn't over."

"Actually it is, I just ended it, now get out before the cops get here." With that Roger turned on his heel and walked out of the house. Santana ran over and locked the door behind him and after emptying the gun she ran over to where Brittany was still sitting on the floor being held by her mother. She grabbed onto to her mother and to Brittany and held on for dear life. Brittany finally broke down as soon as she felt Santana grab hold of her. Santana rocked her back and forth and rubbed her back trying to sooth her without aggravating her injuries. Once she calmed down and realized that she was ok Angela Lopez got up from the floor and called the police. When they heard the sirens outside Santana scooped Brittany up into her arms and carried her over to the couch.

The police made their visit brief; mostly just documenting the firing of the gun, filing charges of assault on Roger Pierce and dealing with a restraining order, everything else was going to be dealt with my lawyers. After an hour with the police where done with Brittany and Santana so Santana took Britt upstairs to get her cleaned up. Brittany sat on the bathroom counter as Santana used a warm was cloth to clean up her injuries. When she was done she realized that she herself was still in nothing but her bathrobe so she threw on a sweatshirt and yoga pants before settling on the bed with Brittany. They spent a few minutes lying on Santana's bed in silence just staring at the ceiling, but when a few stray tears fell from Brittany's eyes Santana pulled her closer and ran her fingers through her hair gently.

"Hey, B, talk to me, where did your mind just go?"

"He was going to kill me." That was all it took to send the blonde into hysterical crying, leaving Santana at a loss for words. She let Brittany cry for a moment before she jumped in. "I would never have let him kill you B, I would have killed him first. I'm sorry I didn't get downstairs faster."

"When is it gonna be over, when can everything just be ok?"

"I don't know B, but it's gonna be ok soon I promise. My parents are going to take care of everything and soon everything will calm down. Right now why don't you go back to sleep ok and I'll wake you up when dinner is ready." Brittany nodded, "will you stay with me?"

"Sure babe and I have something for you." Santana stood up and grabbed a bag from her closet and handed it to Brittany. When she opened the bag Brittany's face lit up; inside the bag was a stuffed animal duck. "San you got me a stuffed duckie, I love it."

"And you can hold him when you sleep and he will keep you from having any bad dreams."

"How does he do that is he magic?"

Santana smiled, "yeah B, he's magic." Brittany sat up and kissed Santana before she fell back on the bed. "Herbert and I are going to take a nap now."

"Herbert?"

"The duckie, I named him Herbert." Santana smiled and kissed Brittany on the forehead, "well, how about you and Herbert take a nap and I'm going to go help mom make dinner ok? Will you be ok up here by yourself?"

Brittany nodded, "I'll be fine, you said Herbert will keep the bad dreams away right?"

"Right B, he will keep you safe, but I'm down stairs if you need me." Santana covered Brittany with the blanket at the end of the bed and turned off the lights before heading downstairs. When she got there she saw that the police were gone and her mother was sitting on the couch with a glass of wine. Santana sat down next to her mother and snuggled into her mother's side. Angela pulled her daughter in closer to her and kissed her head, "you ok baby." Santana shook her head 'no' before she started to cry; she had to be strong for Brittany, but the truth was she was emotionally spent after the crazy day they just had. Her tears subsided in time her mother wiped away the few tears that clung to her face.

"Honey no one, not even you can be strong all the time. Sometimes you have to cry and let it all out or you will carry it with you forever."

"I don't want to cry in front of Brittany, it will scare her."

"Well, first off I think you aren't giving her enough credit, she isn't a china doll honey she won't break that easily. Secondly, I don't see her around right now."

"You won't tell anyone that I cried right?"

"It'll be our secret." Santana sniffled and stayed in that position with her mother until exhaustion got the better of her and she fell asleep.

**That one was hard to right, but it wouldn't be an h/c without some drama. The next few chapters will be a little lighter and I'm toying with the idea of having Brittany show her tougher side. Let me know what you all think, review are awesome. Happy New Year everyone!**


	7. Hell on The Heart

**So, warning strong language in this chapter. Sorry for the delay, but my life got six different kinds of crazy with school and coming out to my dad and a million other things. So enjoy and I will update when I can so stick with me everyone and Glee comes back to us soon, here's hoping they do us proud with the plot lines.**

The next morning Brittany woke up to the alarm clock blaring. Without opening her eyes she flung her arm over to the bedside table and finally hit the button that would stop the offensive sound. When she tried to move she realized that she couldn't as Santana had her arms wrapped around her waist. After managing to turn around so that she was facing Santana's sleeping face she tried to wake the sleeping Latina.

"Santana, wake up."

"Five more minutes, bed warm, you comfy."

"Ok Tarzan, come on we have to get ready for school." At this Santana's eyes snapped open. "You want to go to school, after everything that happened with your dad this weekend. Not only that, there may be some backlash from us being out to everyone. Are you sure that your ready for this?"

"We have to go back eventually and besides we have glee club and I'm sure the Cheerios will stand behind us and even if they don't I have you. I want to go back."

Santana smiled, "then we will go back." The girls quickly showered and got dressed for school. They left the house and grabbed coffee and bagels on their way to school. When they pulled into the student parking lot they both sat there staring at the building in front of them. Brittany grabbed Santana's hand and gave it a slight squeeze, "come on, we'll be late." Brittany grabbed her bag and got out of the car and after taking a deep breath Santana did the same and the two girls walked toward the front door. When Brittany reached the front door she realized that Santana was standing three feet behind her in a slight state of what appeared to be shock. Brittany walked over to her and grabbed her hand, lacing their fingers together and giving Santana a quick peck on the lips, "S, look at me."

Santana caught her gaze, "you're not doing this alone, I'm right here and if they have an issue with us they can fuck off, I'm not ashamed of loving you."

"I don't want them to hurt you."

Brittany threw her books on the ground and grabbed Santana by the shoulders, "do I look like I'm defenseless to you?"

Santana was shocked Brittany never displayed this side of herself before, "no, of course not."

"Then relax, I'm a big girl Santana, just because I couldn't fight my father doesn't mean I can't fight. Whatever they throw at me I can handle because I know nothing is wrong with me and I have you next to me. As long as I have you I can take everything they want to throw at me." She picked up her books and offered her hand to Santana which the Latina took with a small smile, "beside if those jocks think they can come after us and get away with it they have another thing coming." Santana smiled and walked through the front door, hand in hand with Brittany; she didn't know what the day was going to bring, but she felt better knowing that Brittany was more than capable of fighting for herself.

If didn't take long for trouble to find them. Santana was talking to Quinn at her locker while Brittany was down the hallway gathering her books from her own locker. Just as she grabbed her history book her locker was slammed shut by Karofsky.

Brittany looked him straight in the eye, "something I can do for your David?"

"I was thinking about it and I think I figured out a way to fix you."

"I appreciate your concern David, but as you can plainly see there is nothing wrong with me." As she started to walk away Karofsky grabbed her wrist and pulled her back so that her back was pressed against his front. "Hey, hey now, what's your hurry? I think if you and I spent some more time together you wouldn't want to spend so much time with that dyke Santana. What do you say?"

"I'm in love with Santana, now let me fucking go."

"I don't think so baby dyke, I told you I was going to fix you and that is what I'm going to do." Brittany fought to break free from his hold, but he had a tight grip on her and his hands were starting to roam.

As this was happening Santana and Quinn were still talking and hadn't looked up from their lockers, but when a small crowd started to gather at the other end of the hallway the two cheerleaders finally ended their conversation and turned their attention to the commotion.

"What do you think is going on?"

"Probably some kid getting slushied."

Quinn shrugged her shoulders, "probably, hey where's Brit, she went to get her books like forever ago?"

"Maybe she hit up the bathroom?"

"Not to make you freak out, but isn't her locker at the end of the hallway where that crowd is?" Santana's head snapped around, "fuck me backwards, I told her this would happen if we came back today," and without thinking twice she slammed her locker shut, dropped her books at her feet and took off down the hall with Quinn hot on her tail.

When they finally fought their way through the crowd both girls froze in their tracks. Karofsky was still foundling Brittany and had by this point started grabbing her chest. Santana could see what he was doing and hear the things he was saying to Brittany, but she couldn't bring herself to move, that is until he said something that made her snap.

"One night with me and I'll fuck the dyke right out of you." Santana saw red and lunged for Dave only to be stopped by Quinn, "if you punch him they will suspend you."

Santana continued to struggle against Quinn, "so you want me to watch while he molests her, you want me to fucking stand here?"

Quinn looked back at Brittany and smiled, "I don't think your assistance is needed in that fight." Santana turned around to see that she wasn't the only one that saw red, Brittany did too. No one could explain it, but out of nowhere Brittany let out a primal yell and then all hell broke loose. She jammed her right arm into Dave's chest so that her elbow caught his right in the stomach. She then quickly threw her fist backwards making contact with the football player's nose. This caused the boy to let go of her which enabled Brittany to turn around and before he could fight back Brittany roundhouse kicked square in the face, knocking him to the ground. She walked over to the boy who was by now writhing in pain on the floor and grabbing him by the shirt pulled him so that he was inches from her face.

"Listen to me and listen to me good, if you ever, ever talk about me or Santana or anyone else like that again, I will end you and then if your still breathing I'll make sure there isn't someone to hold Santana back." She dropped the boy so he hit his injured face when he landed on the tile floor. Brittany picked up her bag and walked over to Santana and Quinn, both of them were still shocked and ad their mouths hanging wide open.

"I told you I could defend myself." Santana couldn't help it, she was ridiculously proud of Brittany for beating up the football player and she'd be lying if she said she wasn't super turned on by the sight. She pulled away from Quinn and caught Brittany by surprise by bringing their lips crashing together. They made out for about a minute before a voice they knew all too well boomed through the hallway.

"What in the hell is everyone standing around for?" Through the crowd Sue, who at the time was still acting Principal, came storming through. She looked down and saw the beaten up football playing and then turned to the crowd, "well don't just stand there like B list celebrities waiting pathetically by their TV's for their Oscar nod, someone tell me what went down. Quinn pulled Sue aside and explained what happened, when she stopped talking Sue looked livid. She looked over and Santana and Brittany, "Ellen and Portia, front and center now."

Santana shrugged, apparently they had new nicknames when it came to Cheerios. Sue turned to Brittany, "so Portia you beat him up?" Brittany nodded and Sue turned toward Dave, "Neanderthal, you got what you deserved and you're damn lucky I wasn't here or they would never find your body, now get to class before I get angry." The boy ran off and most of the crowd dispersed. Sue turned back to Brittany before walked away, "you did good Portia, looks like you broke the poor bastard's nose. See you, Ellen and Juno at practice." And with that Sue walked away and the three girls headed to their classes.

The rest of the day went by without incident, mostly because everyone was now afraid that if they did anything that both Brittany and Santana would kick their ass. The girls walked into Glee and settled into their seats. Mr. Shue came running in a few minutes late, "ok guys, I have the finalized list of songs for Sectionals, but before we get started does anyone want to start us off. No one raised their hand for a moment, but then one hand shot up.

"Yes Brittany?"

"I have a song I'd like to do Mr. Shue."

"Go for it Brittany." The cheerleader walked up to the front of the room and grabbed the guitar from the stand and handed the music to Brad and the band members.

"I know everyone always sings to people they are hopelessly in love with and while I am in love with Santana, she already knows it I don't have to sing about it. But we went through some intense stiff this weekend and this morning so I thought I'd do it anyway and have a little fun with this song."

Santana had no idea that Brittany was singing and she no idea where she was going with the song, but she was willing to stick it out and see what happened.

Brittany cued the band and then began to strum the guitar before she started to sing.

No if, and's, but's or maybe's  
So you wanna be her baby  
I can read your face like a book  
Yeah it looks easy to love her but believe me brother  
It's harder than it looks

She's as pretty as a picture  
Every bit as funny as she is smart  
Got a smile that'll hold you together  
And a touch that'll tear you apart  
When she's yours she brings the sunshine  
When she's gone the world goes dark  
Yeah she's heaven on the eyes  
But boy she's hell on the heart

Santana couldn't help but blush and smile at Brittany's singing about her.

Yeah she's good when she's bad  
She's cute when she's mad  
And she does all the wrong things right  
Yeah boy it's a fact when they're made like that  
You ain't ever gonna sleep at night

She's as pretty as a picture  
Every bit as funny as she is smart  
Got a smile that'll hold you together  
And a touch that'll tear you apart  
When she's yours she brings the sunshine  
When she's gone the world goes dark  
Yeah she's heaven on the eyes  
But boy she's hell on the heart

Once you feel her touch and you've felt that rush  
It's gonna mess up your head  
But here's the kicker son  
Your old ticker's gonna beat you half to death

Brittany kneeled in front of Santana with the guitar resting on her knee while she continued to play and sing straight to Santana.

She's as pretty as a picture  
Every bit as funny as she is smart  
Got a smile that'll hold you together  
And a touch that'll tear you apart  
When she's yours she brings the sunshine  
When she's gone the world goes dark  
Yeah she's heaven on the eyes  
But boy she's hell on the heart  
Yeah she's hell on the heart

When the music died the whole room filled with applause and everyone was on their feet. Brittany put the guitar down and walked over to Santana, "what did you think?"

Santana pulled Brittany in by her neck and kissed her hard which earned them a few cat calls and more applause. "I loved it B, it was really perfect….you really think I'm cute when I'm mad?"

"Adorable." Brittany gave her a quick peck on the lips before they linked pinkies and settled in to listen to Mr. Shue talk about Sectionals.

**Hope you all enjoyed. Review for the next chapter.**


	8. May I Love You

**Yes, it's a Valentine's Day chapter because it happened this week and I found the greatest song for these two and I had to use it. Enjoy everyone.**

Santana hated Valentine's Day. In her mind it was just another reason for Hallmark to make a buck and to charge people way too much for roses. As much as she hated the holiday and everything it stood for, she loved Brittany and Brittany loved the holiday. She made Valentine's for everyone in Glee on the Cheerios, she even made some for Santana's family. In the weeks leading up to the big day Santana was wracking her brain trying to figure out what to do with Brittany for Valentine's. When she asked the blonde what she wanted to do that day Brittany said that she simply wanted to spend time with Santana at home. While the idea was nice, Santana wanted to do something really special for their first Valentine's Day together as a couple. When Mr. Shue gave the assignment for that week to be about love songs Santana had an idea of where to start. After spending the better part of her weekend planning it out and a good chunk of cash on everything Santana was certain that she had the perfect day planned out. She still hated the holiday, but she would brave hell for Brittany and what is more hellish than Valentine's Day, right?

Monday morning, Santana was harshly woken up by her alarm clock that flashed 5:00am in neon green letters. She shut off the alarm and staggered into her bathroom and I got into the shower in an attempt to wake up. Once she was dressed Santana quietly made her way downstairs and into the kitchen. She reached into fridge and pulled out everything she needed to make breakfast; eggs, bacon and the ingredients for pancakes. She scrambled the eggs and whipped up the batter before she threw the bacon on the griddle. She managed to balance flipping the pancakes, turning the bacon and cooking the eggs without burning anything. She grabbed two plates and pilled the pancakes on followed by the eggs and bacon. After searching the closet for one she finally found a try to put all the food on. Before she took the tray into Brittany's room she put two cups of coffee next to each plate. Santana disappeared into the garage and came back into the house carrying a vase with two dozen roses. She carefully carried the flowers back upstairs and placed them on the bedside table of Brittany's room before she hurried back downstairs to get the food. When she came back to Brittany's room she set the tray on the desk and climbed into bed with Brittany.

"Brittany, baby wake up."

"Time is it?" It was far too early for Brittany to be talking in full sentences.

"It's 6:15 baby, now come on wake up, I have a surprise for you." Brittany turned over and rubbed her eyes, "What is it?" Santana leaned down and kissed Brittany before pulling back and smiling, "Happy Valentine's Day B."

"You hate Valentine's Day."

"True, but I love you so I figured I can suck it up for one day. I made us breakfast in bed and I got you something." Santana pointed to the huge bouquet of flowers sitting next to the bed and Brittany was speechless when she saw them. She grabbed Santana by the belt of her robe and pulled her in to a very passionate kiss, "they are perfect Santana."

"No they are over priced flowers, you are perfect." Brittany smiled and let Santana lose so she could get the tray of food. Santana set the tray in the middle of the bed and sat down next to Brittany and they started to eat.

"S, you made a heart on the pancake with strawberries."

"I thought you might like that."

"I don't want to eat them, cuz then the heart will be gone." Santana smiled, "B its ok to heart the fruit ok, besides you have my heart and that's all that matters." Brittany giggled and looked back at Santana making the Latina confused, "What B?"

"You're a hopeless romantic."

"Only for you, now eat up or we will be late." The two finished up their food and Santana cleaned up the kitchen just as her parents came downstairs.

"Santana, why are you cleaning the kitchen?"

"I cooked in here earlier and it was messy, did I do something wrong?"

Her parent looked at each other and her father walked over and put his hand on her forehead, "no, no fever so she isn't delusional."

"Very funny you guys, I clean sometimes."

"We had to bribe you to clean you room before Brittany moved in. If we had known she is the only reason you clean anything we would have moved her in years ago." Her mother smiled and kissed the top of her daughter's head. "Whatever, Britt and I are leaving soon so you'll have to enjoy making fun of me behind my back." Santana went up stairs and knocked on Brittany's door.

"You almost ready babe."

"Yep just try to find my shoes."

"They are under your desk B."

"How'd you know that? Are you psychotic?"

"It's psychic babe and no, that's where you always kick them off. Meet me in the car in five; I gotta go grab my bag from the den." A few minutes later the girls were in the car and off to school. When they arrived Santana parked the car and told Brittany to go ahead and she would meet her inside. Brittany skipped off and Santana popped the trunk and grabbed her duffle bag which had Brittany's other present inside it. She made her way inside the building and found Brittany standing at her locker with Quinn.

"Britt I gotta go cram for my English test, but I'll see you in Glee ok." Brittany nodded and before she walked away she gave Santana a quick kiss and then let her go. Quinn stood there with a goofy grin on her face, "why don't you too just get married already?"

"Why don't you and Rachel admit you like each other?" Quinn was shocked, mostly by what Brittany was saying, but also at the fact that Brittany had just stood up for herself and she never did that.

"I don't know what you're talking about." Quinn was beat red from the blatant lie she just told.

Brittany smirked, "really, no wonder people think blondes are dumb." Quinn rolled her eyes, "come on B we'll be late for class."

The next several hours seemed to drag on for Santana, her classes were boring and all she could think about was getting to see Brittany and give her the gift she had hidden away in her bag. Lunch finally came around and Santana picked Brittany up from her History class and the two headed hand in hand to the cafeteria. There were a few cat calls and whistling as they walked down the hall but Santana shot them all looks that would kill and they all fell silent again. They grabbed their food and settled into the table in the cafeteria occupied by other glee members.

Rachel looked up from her food and turned toward the two of them, "so are you two performing today in glee?"

"Santana is."

"Marvelous, what will you be singing Santana?"

"It's a song I'm sure no one has heard before, I came across it on the internet and it was perfect for this assignment and perfect for B." She leaned over and gave Brittany and kiss on the check. Rachel beamed, "that is so adorable, I'm sure your performance will be moving. Do you have anything special planned for this evening?"

Santana smirked, "why interested in a threesome Berry?" Finn looked confused and Rachel spit out the water that was in her mouth, "what no, I just, I assume you have dinner plans, something romantic."

"Yes Rachel, we do have plans, but they are a surprise and speaking of surprises I have to go set up another one. I'll see you in Spanish ok baby." See leaned over and kissed Brittany before leaving the cafeteria. Puck jumped into the conversation after being silent all through lunch, "show of hands as to who thinks Santana is making every guy look bad today." Finn, Sam, Artie and Mike all raised their hands with him and the girls rolled their eyes. Mercedes chimed in, "don't blame Santana for being a good girlfriend and being more romantic than you, put a little thought behind your actions and maybe you all won't look so stupid." The girls agreed with Mercedes and the boys all looked really pissed off, clearly they hadn't put too much thought in the holiday past chocolate and stupid cards.

Spanish and Math class seemed to drag on forever and both Brittany and Santana were eager for the bell to free them from having to learn any more about Geometry or about a language Santana knew fluently. Eventually, after what seemed like forever, the bell rang and the two girls made their way to the choir room. Santana opened the door for Brittany and when the blonde walked in she stopped dead in her tracks. Sitting on her chair was another bouquet of roses, this time pink ones, a card and a box wrapped in duck wrapping paper with a bow on it. Everyone that came into the room froze at the door waiting for Brittany's reaction. The blonde turned around with tears streaming down her face and pulled Santana into a fierce and passionate kiss, they stayed that way for a few minutes before air became an issue.

"Happy Valentine's Day baby." Santana kissed her girlfriend one more time before directing her over to the chair and handing her the flowers and the present. Brittany sat down and opened the card which of curse had a duck on it and when she opened it up Santana had written a brief note.

_I know I'm totally whipped, but I love making you happy and I just love you period. You're so beautiful baby and I'm always gonna love you. Hope you like your gift. Love you, S._

Brittany put the card in her bag and handed the roses to Santana to hold while she opened the gift. She torn off the paper and in her hand was a box that clearly contained jewelry. Her shaky hand opened the box and when she did more tears came down her face. In the jewelry box was a beautiful sterling silver heart that was incrusted with sapphires and diamonds. Santana took the necklace out of the box and hooked it around Brittany's neck before give her a quick kiss.

"I told you you'd be surprised."

"Santana this must have cost you a fortune."

Santana shock her head, "I didn't care how much it cost, you deserve the best and that is what you got." Brittany got up from her seat and after placing the flowers on the empty chair sat on Santana's lap and snuggled into her. Once again Puck took this tender moment to ruin, "show of hands who thinks Santana's getting some tonight." Everyone's hand shot up. "Who still thinks she should stop showing up all the guys in the room." All the boys hands went up. Santana turned her head around, "who thinks Puckermen needs to shut the hell up?" All the girls raised their hands and before he could respond Mr. Shue walked into the room.

"Ok everyone, looks like some of you are having a very nice Valentine's Day." He looked at Brittany who was still wrapped up in Santana. "Anyway, who wants to start us off with their song for today?" Everyone sat still until to Santana's shock, Brittany's hand shot up.

"Yes, Brittany?"

"I have a song I want to do Mr. Shue."

"Great Brittany, come on up."

Brittany walked up to the front of the room, "I told Santana that I wasn't gonna sing today because I wanted to surprise her." Brittany nodded to the band and they started up.

_For so long, I searched in desperation  
For one love, that would always be true  
I came close, but there were always complications  
I finally decided there was nothing I could do  
So I gave up  
And I let go  
And as soon as I did  
Wouldn't you know_

Just look what I found when I wasn't looking  
Look what I found when I was just being me  
I turned around and love was mine for the taking  
Look what I found when she found me

Now there's a lot of lonely people out there waiting  
And there's a lot of lonely people searching too  
But if you've got too many expectations

Brittany looked straight at Santana.

_You might miss the one who's right in front of you  
No telling when  
No telling why  
She'll say hello and you'll know  
You'll never say goodbye_

Just look what I found when I wasn't looking  
Look what I found when I was just being me  
I turned around and love was mine for the taking  
Look what I found when she found me  


Brittany walked toward Santana and lightly caressed her cheek as she sang.

_And every single day I'm still surprised  
When I turn around and I look into her eyes  
I'm a like a kid who won a prize  
Look what I found  
Just look at what I found_

Just look what I found when I wasn't looking  
Look what I found when I was just being me  
I turned around and love was mine for the taking  
Look what I found when she found me

As the music died out the whole room broke out in applause and everyone turned to Santana who had tears running down her face and was trying to hid them got up from her seat and wrapped Brittany up in a hug and placed a gentle kiss against her lips.

"That was so amazing B. And for the record, I'm glad I found you."

"That was amazing Brittany, I think we'll have to start giving you some solos more often." Mr. Shue patted the girl on the shoulder and before he could ask who wanted to go next Santana raised her hand. "Mr. Shue, I'd like to go next." Mr. Shue sat back down and let the Latina have the stage. "I guess since B went, I should go next. I found this song online about a week ago and I fell in love with it and every time I listen to it I think of B and our relationship. I've never loved anyone like this before and I don't want to ever screw this up. I want to give her the best and be everything she ever needs me to be, so I hope you like the song baby." Santana picked up the guitar dn started to play the intro and soon began to sing.

_And there you stand opened heart-opened doors  
full of life with the world that's wanting more.  
But I can see when the lights start to fade,  
the day is done and your smile has gone away._

Let me raise you up.  
Let me be your love.

May I hold you  
as you fall to sleep,  
when the world is closing in  
and you can't breathe.  
May I love you.  
May I be your shield.  
When no one can be found  
may I lay you down.

All I want is to keep you safe from the cold...  
to give you all that your heart needs the most.

Let me raise you up  
Let me be your love

May I hold you  
as you fall to sleep.  
When the world is closing in  
and you can't breathe,  
may I love you.  
May I be your shield.  
When no one can be found,  
may I lay you down.

All that's made me  
Is all worth trading 

_just to have one moment with you.  
So I will let go  
of all that I know  
knowing that you're here with me._

For your love is changing me. 

__Santana had to choke back the tears that were falling down her face. She had to finish the song before she lost her composure. 

_May I hold you  
as you fall to sleep.  
When the world is closing in  
and you can't breathe,  
may I love you.  
May I be your shield.  
when no one can be found  
may I lay you down._

There was not a dry eye in the entire room, even the boys had tears in the corner of their eyes and Mr. Shue was a mess. Brittany wasn't even aware of the tears falling freely from her eyes until Santana walked up to her and brushed them away with her hand. "What'd you think B?" Brittany grabbed Santana by the back of the neck and pulled her into the gentlest and in her opinion most perfect kiss.

"It was perfect. I loved it, but I love you way more." Santana settled back into her seat and Brittany resumed her spot on Santana's lap. They watched the rest of the club do their songs and everyone was good, but it was generally agreed that no one could touch either of their performances. When Glee was over the girls along with Quinn and Rachel piled into Santana's car. Santana pulled up in front of Rachel's house first and Quinn offered to walk her to the door. Santana noticed Quinn grab Rachel's hand as they walked up the front steps.

"I give it a week before they realize they want each other."

Brittany smiled, "I give them 30 seconds."

"B that's ridiculous they aren't gonna…" Before she could finish B pointed out the window and sure enough Quinn and Rachel were making out on the front porch of Rachel's house. "Well I'll be damned, B how did you know that?"

"They were giggling and whispering and holding hands in the backseat, we do that before we make out, so I figured they would too."

"Well, they are never gonna live this down." Santana laid on the horn and yelled out the window, "hey Queerio speed it up, I have a hot date tonight." Rachel turned beat read and Quinn flipped off the Latina. Brittany gave Santana her 'I'm disappointed in you face'. "That was mean San."

"Please like she doesn't try to embarrass us when we make out, she'll get over it." Quinn opened the back door and quietly slid in the backseat. The drive to Quinn's house was dead silent. When they pulled up in front of Quinn's house the blond got out of the car, but Santana followed her.

"Quinn, wait a sec."

"What? You want to crack a joke about me kissing Rachel? You want to tell me that your gonna tell the whole school or Finn? You going to make fun of me for being…" Quinn couldn't say it.

"Gay." Santana offered.

"I can't be." Quinn refused to cry, but her tear ducts did not get that message and a few stray tears escaped her eyes. Santana hugged her close to her, "hey, there is nothing wrong with it ok, no matter what your religion tells you ok, and fuck what other people think about you, do what makes you happy and tell them all to go pound salt. B and I will support you no matter what." Santana let her go and Quinn smiled and turned to go into the house and just before she closed the door her phone buzzed.

The text from Santana read: _'If she makes you happy, that's what matters. And I'll try not to call her hobbit anymore.'_

Santana got back in the car and gave Brittany a quick kiss before they went back to their house. When they got home they found an empty house; Santana's parents were gone for the night and her little brother was at a friend's house.

"B why don't you go change clothes and I'm gonna make sure our dinner plans our all set."

"Are we going somewhere fancy or can I wear jeans."

"You could go butt naked and be fine, but yes jeans are fine B." Brittany went upstairs and while she was gone Santana set up their romantic dinner. She set out the food, wine she had stolen from her father's collection, candles and music. When Brittany came down stairs she had jeans and a sweater on. Santana always thought she looked amazing no matter what the attire.

"You look amazing B."

"You don't look so bad yourself. So we ready to go."

"We aren't going anywhere." Brittany looked more confused than normal so Santana grabbed her hand and led her upstairs to Santana's room and opened the window that led out onto the roof. "You said you wanted to spend the night at home so that is what I am giving you. Brittany stepped through the window and on the roof top the covered the garage Santana had set up a picnic dinner with candles and music and it was perfect.

The girls ate and talked about school and how the day had gone. Santana had made Brittany's favorite, homemade mac and cheese and skirt steaks; not exactly on their Cheerio diet but neither one cared. When the food was gone Santana turned the music on and wrapped Brittany up in her arms and the two of them laid down on the roof top and looked up at the stars. They stayed like that until it had gotten too cold to stay out there anymore and they started to clean up and once inside Brittany spun around quickly and gave Santana a kiss.

"What was that for?"

"For being wonderful and making this day the best Valentines ever and because I love you silly." They put the dishes in the kitchen and headed back upstairs and snuggled into Santana's bed, they weren't supposed to share a bed, but again that rule was ignored this evening. Both girls were happy to lie there with each other and so they did until both of them were fast asleep.

So yes Santana Lopez hates Valentine's Day, or at least she did, but after this one she was developing an affection for the holiday.

**So I hope you guys enjoyed that. School is insanely busy, but I'm gonna try to update every Friday after my last class is done. The songs in the chapter are "Look What I Found" by Chris Cagle and "May I" by Trading Yesterday. So please review for the next chapter, I'd like at least 5 before I write the next one, please and thank you. Have a great weekend all and happy reading.**


	9. Nightmares and Sleeping Beauties

**Sorry, I know I said I would do it every Friday, but I had tests the last few weeks and my life in crazy this month, but here is another chapter. This is the last time we'll see Brittany's dad and be warned this chapter is a little heavy on the angst but things level out soon. My plan is to make this story a shortish one and then follow up with another story about them getting ready to graduate. Review and let me know what you think; the more reviews the harder I try to make time for updates.**

After Valentine's came and went the girls settled back into a regular rhythm; they would carpool in the morning to school, go to classes, Glee, Cheerios and at the end of the day would go home, Brittany would help Santana's mother make dinner and the girls would work on their homework. Mr. Lopez would try to end his shift early and make it home on time to eat with his family. Santana's little brother would say something stupid, Santana would hit him, their father would scold them and Brittany would try to stifle her giggling. This night was no different, after dinner the girls finished their homework, watched some TV and then around 10 headed up to their separate bedrooms. Before she went into her own room Santana walked Brittany into her room and tucked her into her bed, "night babe." Santana kissed Brittany softly before pulling away and walking toward the door. She shut the light off and closed the door behind her. When she was gone Brittany turned on the lamp on the bedside table and pulled a book out from under her pillow. Just because she was a genius didn't mean she didn't like to read.

About 20 minutes later Angela locked up downstairs and headed upstairs to her bedroom. As she passed Brittany's room she noticed the light was on so she pushed the door open and found Brittany sound asleep still clutching the book she was reading to her chest. Angela softly walked over to the sleeping girl and carefully removed the book from her arms, when she looked at the book he her hands she was surprised. Brittany wasn't reading some simple book; she was reading The Count of Monte Cristo and judging from what page she was on, she was almost done with it. Angela smiled as put the book on the bedside table; she always told Santana that Brittany was smarter then she looked. She covered Brittany and shut off the light before she walked out of the room and into her own room. For the first time in a long time everything to be working out well for everyone, but the peacefulness wasn't meant to last forever.

The next morning went like all the others before it had gone, the girls woke up showered, ate breakfast and went to school, they went to their classes and eventually made their way to Glee. Everyone was talking when Mr. Shue finally walked into the room and grabbed the dry erase pen and started to write on the board. When he finished he stepped back and pointed to what he wrote on the board.

"Du creux de toi c'est bien le mal qui dresse tes silences. Can anyone tell me what that means?" Everyone sat there in silence, they hated it when Mr. Shue taught this way; through a series of questions no one was going to be able to answer.

"No one, ok how about this one." He turned around and wrote something else below the first sentence. "la vie qui roule, qui déroule, qui file et se défile. Can anyone tell me what that means?"

The whole room was silent and confused and finally Rachel spoke up, "Mr. Shue the only thing I recognize is that what you just wrote is in French, there is no way any of us know what that says because this school only offers Spanish so there is no way…" Rachel's rambling was cut off by a soft but sure voice saying, "From deep inside, it's the hurt which forges your silences." Everyone turned to Brittany, she was always the first one to answer these questions and she always said the wrong thing.

"Brittany, it's great your trying to participate but there is no way that…" This time Rachel was cut off by Mr. Shue, "she's right." The entire Glee club, including Santana, looked at Brittany like she grew a second head. She ignored them and continued," the other one means life with all its ups and downs, its ins and outs." The whole club turned to Mr. Shue who nodded his head. Santana grabbed Brittany's hand, "baby I didn't know you knew French, why didn't you say something?"

"You never asked. Besides, they don't teach it here so I had to take Spanish any way."

"Brittany, this is way you had such a hard time with Spanish, French and Spanish are two completely different languages. Where did you learn it anyway?"

"My mom dragged me and my little sister to the library and we were there like all day so I went upstairs and grabbed a book and read it, it was how to teach yourself French and so I sat there and learned."

"Am I the only one shocked that Brittany is fluent in another language other than English, I mean this is the girl that thought ballad was a duck and that a duet was a blanket." Puck soon felt a hand upside his head, he turned to see a very pissed off Quinn, "unless you want to have Santana kill you later I would shut up." Mr. Shue tried to get every to focus back at the lesson, "any way Brittany is right, this lesson is going to be about finding that heartache or that pain that you've been holding onto and letting it go through song. You can do solos or duets, but this week is going to be about finding that pain and expressing it because being able to be in touch with your emotions is going to be critical for regionals this year you guys. So use the rest of our time to work on your pieces." Mr. Shue was about to walk into his office when he saw Brittany's hand shoot up.

"Yes, Brittany."

"Mr. Shue I have a song I want to do."

"Now?"

"If that's ok yes, now."

"If you're sure Brittany, then sure come on up." Brittany grabbed a stool from the other side of the room and set it down next to the piano. She whispered something to Brad and sat herself down in the stool. Santana wasn't sure what she was doing and she was concerned about what Brittany had in mind mostly because she knew there was only one thing in her heart that was hurting Brittany.

"I heard this song on the radio a few days ago and it made me cry because well, it just did. These last few weeks reminded me what it was like to have a family and this song reminded me of what I used to have so here it goes." Brittany nodded to Brad who began to play and after a brief intro she launched into the song.

_I know I can't take one more step towards you  
Cause all that's waiting is regret  
And don't you know I'm not your ghost anymore  
You lost the love I loved the most  
I learned to live half alive  
And now you want me one more time_

Santana and most of the Glee club knew the song well and all of them were wondering if Brittany would have the emotional stability to make it through the song that was clearly about the pain her father put her through.

_And who do you think you are  
Running 'round leaving scars  
Collecting your jar of hearts  
And tearing love apart  
You're gonna catch a cold  
From the ice inside your soul  
So don't come back for me  
Who do you think you are_

_I hear you're asking all around  
If I am anywhere to be found  
But I have grown too strong  
To ever fall back in your arms  
And I've learned to live half alive  
And now you want me one more time_

Tears were slowly falling from her eyes, but Brittany looked at Santana who offered her a sad smile and she continued.

_And who do you think you are  
Running 'round leaving scars  
Collecting your jar of hearts  
And tearing love apart  
You're gonna catch a cold  
From the ice inside your soul  
So don't come back for me  
Who do you think you are_

_It took so long just to feel alright  
Remember how to put back the light in my eyes  
I wish I had missed the first time that we kissed  
Cause you broke all your promises  
And now you're back  
You don't get to get me back_

Brittany had tears running steadily down her cheeks and she looked like she was about to lose it. Santana stood up from her seat and walked over to Brittany. She wrapped her arms around her girlfriend and even though she expected Brittany to lose her composure the blonde kept on singing so Santana joined in on the chorus to help her out.

_And who do you think you are  
Running 'round leaving scars  
Collecting your jar of hearts  
And tearing love apart  
You're gonna catch a cold  
From the ice inside your soul  
So don't come back for me  
Don't come back at all_

_And who do you think you are  
Running 'round leaving scars  
Collecting your jar of hearts  
And tearing love apart  
You're gonna catch a cold  
From the ice inside your soul  
Don't come back for me  
Don't come back at all  
Who do you think you are?  
Who do you think you are?  
Who do you think you are?_

When the music faded to silence Brittany let go of trying to be strong and let Santana hold onto her while she cried. Everyone else in the club sat there in silence, clapping seemed inappropriate after that kind of performance so they all sat there, with tears in their own eyes. Mr. Shue got up from his seat and walked over to the girls, he rubbed Brittany's shoulder and she turned to face him.

"That was very well done Brittany, really beautiful and inspiring." He backed away offered Santana a sad smile before he turned his attention to the group, "does anyone have anything they want to say about Brittany's performance." Everyone said something mostly about how amazing it was and when the room fell silent Mr. Shue spoke up again. "Ok guys, I think we can call it a day alright." As everyone started to pack up an all too familiar voice came from the door way.

"Now, now Mr. Shue I don't think everyone has had their chance to critique that performance." Santana tensed up when she heard the voice, she didn't have to turn around to know it was Brittany's father, she knew his voice and she could see Quinn's face turn completely pale. Santana turned around a saw Roger standing inside the choir room.

"Roger, I told you what would happen if you came back didn't I?" Santana was in no mood to deal with him, but she was more than ready to make good on her promise to end Roger Pierce.

"You think I'm scared of you girl, not so big without your mother and your gun are you?" Santana saw something hit the light and she realized he had a knife in his hand. Brittany stood up a stepped out from behind Santana, "you have no right to be here, you're not my father anymore just go."

"Not your father? I will always be your father, I paid for everything you ever had your whole life, I raised and cared for you, I will always be your father regardless of what you want."

Brittany scoffed, "cared for me, no, you paid for me, just like you said, mom cared for me, you were nothing more than ATM, if you're so keen on being my father can you tell me what my favorite color is, or when my birthday is, or the name of my favorite stuffed animal, how old was I when I learned to ride a bike, how did I get that scar on my right shoulder, what kind of dance is my favorite, what is my favorite song and here is a good one, what do I want to do with my life when I get out of this hell hole of a town?" The whole room stood silent watching Brittany berate her father, the teenagers never saw Brittany stand up for herself like this before, she was fearless. Santana caught Quinn glance and mouthed for her to dial 911 before she focused her attention back on Roger and Brittany.

"What no answer, I thought you were my father, those are things fathers know. You never were and never will be my father." Mr. Shue stepped in, "Mr. Pierce I think its best if you leave now." As Mr. Shue reached for his arm, Roger swung at him with the knife. Thankfully Mr. Shue saw it coming and ducked. Roger backed away from him and pointed the knife in Brittany's direction, "you are coming home with me." He took one step toward Brittany when all of a sudden Santana grabbed Brittany's arm and pulled her back and stepped in between her and her father "over my dead body." The whole club sat perfectly still and watched as Santana deliberately put herself in danger way just to protect Brittany. Santana turned to Brittany and whispered in her ear, "if I tell you to run you run, you hear me, run and do not look back." Brittany nodded and Santana turned her attention back to Roger.

"Roger you heard the man, you need to leave before this gets ugly."

"And what if I don't, what are you going to do about it?",

"Well, for starts I'll kick your ass till hell won't have it again then if you still don't get the idea I will have no problem ending your life."

"You wouldn't kill me?"

"Care to test that theory; I would do anything to protect her, if that means murder so be it. So once again, I'm giving you 30 seconds to get out of here before shit gets really bad for you." The two of them starred at each other for a few minutes neither of them saying anything. Roger took a step back and it looked like he was going to leave, but before anyone could stop him he grabbed the first glee member he could reach from their seat and held the knife to their throat, it happened to be Kurt. To his credit Kurt remained perfectly still while this happened and he appeared to be staying calm, how, no one knew. Santana took a step toward Roger, but he took a step back.

"No, no Santana, see if you won't give me what I want maybe I'll just take something else from you. It's not like you love him right, I mean he is a boy and we all know that you don't like them, plus he's gay so why would you risk your life for a fairy like him."

"Let's get one thing straight, he may be a fairy, but he is our fairy and two I would die protecting anyone in this room even the dwarf." Rachel wasn't sure if she should be touched or offended, but she settled on touched. "Let him go Roger, you want to hurt someone, hurt me, I mean it's my fault Britt is gay right, you want to hurt someone I'm right fucking here. Just let Kurt go, he hasn't done anything to you." Roger slowly pulled the knife away from the young man's throat and quickly pushed him to the ground. Kurt quickly got up and sat in the back row of chairs, far away from the knife wielding man.

Before Santana could register what was happening Roger grabbed her arm and held her into the same position he had Kurt in only moments before. Brittany lunged forward, but Santana stop her, "no B, I'm ok."

"Don't lie to her Santana, you don't your girlfriend to watch as I kill you right, then no one will be here to protect her." That did it, you could threaten Santana all you wanted, but the second you threaten Brittany it's all over for you. Santana's eyes flashed red and everyone knew all hell was about to break loose and it did. Santana threw her elbow back as hard as she could and caught Roger in the stomach which caused him to loosen his grasp on her. She hit him again which caused him to double over and as she tried to pull away she felt a sharp sting on her upper shoulder. All bets were off because at that point Santana was operating on survival instinct. She clutched at her arm and saw the blood trickle down her arm, she shrugged it off, that wasn't gonna stop her, if anything it lit a fire in Santana and as promised things got really ugly for Roger Pierce. Santana looked straight into his eyes and smiled, "don't say I didn't warn you." Before he could raise the knife again Santana landed a high kick right to his face and before he could recover she swung around and kicked the knife out of his hand. It slid across the floor and Rachel picked it up of the floor and held it her lap. Now that he was unarmed Santana ran full tilt at the man and at the last minute she dropped her shoulder and hit Roger in the center of his body and sent the man tumbling to the ground with her on top of him. Santana looked up and caught Brittany's gaze, "B run." Brittany stayed planted where she stood, "Brittany, I said run, go, I'll be ok."

Brittany wanted to stay, but she did what Santana said and ran from the choir room into the hallway. When she was gone Santana look down at the man struggling underneath her, she looked up and held out her hand to Rachel, "Berry, knife, now." Without thinking Rachel tossed her the knife and Santana held it against Roger's throat and all of a sudden he stopped fighting.

"What Roger, afraid I might kill you, well you should be." Without saying another word Santana raised the knife over her head and brought it crashing down. The tip of the knife went into the floor next to Roger Pierce's neck; it was so close he could fell the metal against his skin. Santana leaned in so she was nose to nose with the man, "twice I have held your life in my hands and twice I have given it back to you, next time I won't be so generous, count on it. You made a big, big mistake taking me on Roger. If you even think about coming after her again I will hunt you like a damn dog and make you feel the most intense pain, then I'll take your very last breath with my bare hands." With that Santana pushed herself up slightly, "I hope you have fun in prison Roger, I'm sure your boyfriend will be gentle if you beg."

The man on the ground managed to choke out, "I'm sorry."

Red flashed in Santana's eyes, "not yet you're not." Without warning Santana starred punching the man underneath her without showing any sign of stopping. After she got a few good blows in Mr. Shue managed to lift the cheerleader off of the ground and pull her away from man. Puck rushed over to help hold Santana back because she was fighting against Mr. Shue with everything she had. Puck grabbed her by the waist and held onto her with a rather tight grip until she finally stopped fighting against him. Sam and Finn had flipped Roger over onto his stomach and were literally sitting on him until the police came in. Santana broke away from Puck and headed for the door.

"Santana, where in the hell do you think you are you going? You need to get that arm looked at." Quinn stood next to Puck with a concerned and confused look on her face.

"No, I need to go find Brittany, my arm can wait." Santana ran out of the room, ignoring the police running the other door. She went to the only place se could think to find Brittany. When she got to the janitor's closet on the first floor she opened the door to find Brittany sitting on the floor. When Brittany looked up and saw it was Santana she quickly got off the floor and threw herself at the Latina.

"It's ok baby, I'm alright."

"He hurt you."

"The important thing is he didn't hurt you, this will heal and I'll have a badass scar. He is never going to bother us again Brittany I promise you that. He is going to go to jail for a really long time and you will never have to see him again. Now we should go talk to the police and I probably need to get this bandaged." Brittany grabbed Santana's hand and followed her down the hallway and back to the choir room where the police were busy questioning everyone, Roger was gone already and everyone was waiting for their parents to be contacted so they could go home. A paramedic cleaned Santana's arm and bandaged it tell her that she would need to get a tetanus shot and changed the bandage every day. She nodded and went back to sitting with Brittany, waiting for her mother to come pick them up. As they waited Rachel and Quinn walked over to them and Rachel was the first to say something.

"Did you mean it?"

"Did I mean what Berry?"

"That you would die to protect everyone in Glee, even me."

Santana stood up and looked Rachel square in the eye, "listen Berry, for some reason I have yet to understand Q is gay for you and that means you in my circle. All you weirdos are sort of like family and britt what do I say about family?"

"Nobody fucks with family." Brittany relied with a smile.

"That's right babe, nobody fucks with family. So yes dwarf, I meant it."

Rachel smiled, "I knew you had a heart in their somewhere."

"Don't let it get around; I have a reputation to protect." Rachel chuckled and turned to walk away with Quinn trailing behind her. "Berry." Rachel turned back to Santana, "if you break her heart I'll break your face, we clear."

"Crystal."

After Rachel and Quinn left Santana's mother came bursting through the door and quickly found both Santana and Brittany. She ran over to them and quickly wrapped her arms around them quickly rattling off questions, asking if they were alright. Santana tried to calm her mother down, "we are fine mom, it's ok."

"Don't lie to me Santana, and what is that on your arm did you get hurt?"

"I'm fine it's a scratch. We are both fine, but we would both really like to go home."

"Alright, but we're talking about this later ok." Santana and Brittany climbed into Santana's car and followed her mother home. They got settled inside and while her mother went to start dinner Brittany and Santana sat in the living room and watched Lady and the Tramp. When her brother came home from practice Angela made it clear that there was going to be no bickering at the table this evening, case closed. Without the sibling fighting dinner was surprisingly quiet. Brittany just pushed her food around her plate, barely eating any of it. After 20min of pretending to eat Brittany asked to go upstairs. Santana watched as Brittany walked up to her bedroom and shut the door behind her. She was going to go after her but her mother stopped her.

"Give her some time alone Santana, a lot happened today to you and to her. Sometimes the best thing to do is to give people some space to themselves." Santana nodded and helped her mother clean up the kitchen. Eventually Santana made her way upstairs and when she went into Brittany's room she saw that the girl had fallen dead asleep on her bed, the day's events leaving her exhausted. She closed the door softly behind her and went into her own room and within a few minutes of lying on her bed she too fell fast asleep.

Several hours later something woke Santana up. She didn't hear anything, but she quickly ran out of her room and down the hall to Brittany's room. When she opened the door she realized that what woke her up was the fact that Brittany was having a nightmare and clearly needed her. She walked over to the bed and rubbed Brittany's shoulder gently trying to wake her up calmly as she was thrashing around the bed violently and crying out Santana's name. When she felt Santana touch her shoulder the movement stopped and she sat upright in the bed.

"Britt, it's ok it was just a bad dream." Brittany pulled Santana closer to her, "no it was real and you were gone and can't let that happen. Please don't leave me."

"I'm not going anywhere baby." Santana saw that Brittany was still scared, "how about sleep in here with you tonight?"

"But you're not supposed to."

Santana smiled, "I believe the rule is I can't sleep in the same bed as you, I'll be right back." Santana left the room and several minutes later returned with a bean bag chair from her room. She placed it next to the bed and flopped down into the chair.

"See I'll sleep right here and that way I'm right here with you and we aren't breaking any rules." Brittany seemed to like this arrangement and so she climbed underneath the covers again and turned onto her side so she was as close to Santana as she could possibly be. After a moment of silence she reached her hand over and rested it on the center of Santana's chest. The Latina looked at her and laughed, "B if you wanted to touch my boobs you missed."

Brittany shook her head, "I wanted to feel your heartbeat. If I can feel that then you're still here with me and I didn't lose you."

Santana grabbed the hand resting over her heart and kissed it before putting back down, "you will never lose me Britt." Brittany closed her eyes and just before Santana did the same she turned toward Brittany, "your favorite color is red, your birthday is March 27th, Herbert is your favorite stuffed animal, but you love your baby blanket the most, you learned how to ride a bike when you were 8 after I taught you how, that scar on your right shoulder is from when Puck pushed you into some chicken wire when we were 5, your favorite kind of dance to perform is hip-hop, but you love to watch ballet, your favorite song is Long Journey by Sarah Jarosz and I think you want to go to Julliard when we get out of this town." Brittany opened her eyes, leaned over and kissed Santana before settling back into her pillow, "you got 7 out of 8 right."

"Which one did I miss?" Brittany smiled with her eyes still closed, "when we get out of this town I do want to go Julliard, but there is something more important I want to do."

"And what might that be?"

"I want to marry you." Santana was floored, but she couldn't stop the smile that spread across her face. "I want to marry you to baby. Night Britt." Soon both girls were sound asleep again.

In the middle of the night when Angela got up to check on the girls she noticed Santana wasn't in her bed so she figured she was with Brittany or downstairs. When she opened the door to Brittany's room Angela had to suppress a laugh; only her daughter would find a way around the no sleeping in the same bed rule. The girls were still in the same position they had fallen asleep in, with Brittany's hand resting over Santana's heart. Angela covered Santana with a blanket before she walked out of the bedroom and the older woman couldn't help but smile.

**So I am super sorry for the wait you guys, my life and school have been crazy busy. It is a long update so I hope that made up for some of it. Just watched the last episode of Glee and I cried so much when Brittany and Santana sang with Holly, whenever Santana cries I cry. And my heart truly broke when Santana said she loved Brittany, but Britt said she couldn't leave Artie. Damn Ryan Murphy, I hope this doesn't ruin everything in their friendship, but it does make for some good fanfiction ;-) Anyway, please review, five more for the next chapter. The more reviews the faster I write.**


	10. Happy Brithday?

**Sorry for the wait, life and school has been crazy busy, but here is a new chapter. Hope you like it and please review and let me know what you think.**

The next few weeks went by without incident. The girls fell back into their rhythm of school and practice and Cheerios. Santana worked with Brittany on all her classes until it got to the point that Brittany was actually doing better and showing a significant improvement in her grades. School was going better than they had expected; with the glee club members supporting them the girls had not real problem showing the fact that they were a couple to the school. Was it perfect, hell no, it was still high school, they still got starred at and whispered about, names were still thrown around, but Santana would shoot an icy glare at those people and they would keep walking. When it came right down to it they didn't get picked on anymore than anyone else in the school did, so really they didn't have much to complain about. In fact it was quite the opposite, as on that particular morning, both Santana and Brittany had something special to celebrate; Brittany's birthday.

Santana had spent weeks trying to figure out what to do for Brittany's birthday and she soon realized that as perfect as Valentine's day was, she may have outdone herself. She didn't want to seem like the one trick pony of romance so she thought of anything and everything she could do to make Brittany's day special. Flowers were a given, but not roses, too obvious, her favorite flower would work if Santana knew what it was. Eventually, Santana figured she would make Brittany a simple cake and then take her out that night and do something special. She just had to find the perfect gift and put everything in motion without Brit finding out about her plans.

The night before her birthday Santana kissed Brittany goodnight before going back downstairs and getting to work on her cake. As she watched her daughter frantically trying to perfectly decorate the cake, Angela Lopez couldn't help but smile, she found it slightly funny and very sweet that her daughter was falling all over herself to make her girlfriend happy. Angela went upstairs with a smile on her face and a warm feeling in her heart and she was even more thankful that Brittany had found her way into Santana's life because the perky blonde seemed to melt the heart of her normally very guarded daughter.

When she was satisfied that the cake was perfect Santana put it in the outside fridge and after quickly cleaning the kitchen she climbed into bed. In her mind her head had no sooner hit the pillow then the alarm clock was going off. After getting ready, Santana made her way to Brittany's room only to find it empty.

"She went in early this morning, said she wanted to go running before school started." Santana looked up to see her mother at the end of the hallway with two mugs of coffee.

"Did you at least say Happy Birthday?" Santana asked in a slightly agitated voice.

Angela shot her daughter a look only a mother could give, "no Santana I was a heartless shrew and said nothing, of course I said Happy Birthday. Now if you want to catch her before class you should get going." Santana took another gulp of her coffee before handing the mug back to her mother kissing her check, "thanks mama, see you later."

Santana pulled into the school parking lot and when she got out of the car she could see Brittany running around the track. She walked over to the fence and waited there until Brittany came around again and ran over to her.

"Happy Birthday baby!" Santana gave her a quick kiss between the chain link fence before pulling back. "How come you left so early, you should have slept in on your birthday?"

"I wanted to go running, figured I would work off the calories I will be eating later in the ways of birthday cake."

"And what makes you think you're getting a cake?" Santana teased.

"You always get me a cake for my birthday, ever since we were 5 and you made me one out of mud."

"Some of my finest work. Well how about you go shower and I'll give you one of your presents." Brittany beamed and ran over to the locker rooms while Santana grabbed her things from her car. Brittany came bouncing out of the locker room about 15 minutes later, hair still wet but now she was in her Cheeios uniform.

"So where is my present?"

"What no good morning sweetie, where is my present?" Santana feigned being hurt and Brittany leaned over and kissed her briefly.

"Good morning."

"That's better. You present is in you locker." The two walked over to their lockers and Brittany took the lock in her hand and then froze. Santana took the lock in her own hand and spun it three times before popping the thing open. Santana pulled back the metal door and no sooner had she done that was Brittany screaming and jumping up and down. Inside the locker were a dozen mixed color tulips.

"Santana, how did you know these were my favorite?"

"A little bird told me."

"Birds talk to you too; I thought it was just me?" Santana looked at Brittany, but decided to not respond it would have ruined the moment.

"They are amazing Santana."

"No you're amazing; they are flowers, just like the roses were." Brittany grabbed Santana by the strap of her backpack and pulled her into a searing kiss. Thankfully the halls were still fairly empty at that moment so they were able to enjoy this moment without an audience. After several minutes a voice interrupted them.

"You know people are trying to learn here right?" Quinn stood there with a shit eating grin on her face.

"Very funny Q."

"Happy Birthday Brittany."

"Thanks Quinn, look at what Santana got me." Brittany proudly showed off the flowers.

"They're beautiful Britt, but you should probably put them back in your locker, the bell is gonna ring soon." Brittany gently placed the flowers back in her locker and grabbed her books and the trio walked to their classes. The next few hours went by fairly quickly; Santana sent Brittany texts in every class from first period until lunch, even in the classes they shared. Texts saying I love you and several other messages. By the time lunch came around Brittany was beaming, Santana was treating her like a princess and she loved it. They sat down at the lunch table with the rest of the glee crew and everyone wished Brit a happy birthday and a few of them even gave her cards and small gifts they had made for her. Santana held onto her gift, she wanted to give it to Brittany later.

As the end of the day came around and brought with it glee practice Santana walked into the choir room only to find that Brittany wasn't there. Santana took her usual seat and thought that maybe she was just running late, but when ten minutes passed and Mr. Shue walked in the room and started talking about set lists Santana got that nagging feeling in the put of her stomach again. She looked and Quinn and Rachel who must have been thinking the same thing she was because they both looked concerned. Santana quickly texted Brittany again, but again got no response. She tried several more times and finally her phone vibrated in her hand, but when she looked down the message wasn't from Brittany, it was from her mom. Santana quickly read the text looked at Quinn and Rachel and without saying a word she grabbed her backpack and started to walk out of the room.

Quinn tried to stop her, "Santana wait, what hap…" Quinn was cut off by Santana throwing her cell phone over her shoulder to Quinn and thankfully she caught the device. As Santana disappeared out the door Quinn read the text message from Santana's mother and soon the same look of worry spread across her face.

"Quinn." Rachel shock Quinn lightly trying to get her talk and all Quinn could do was hand Rachel the phone. Rachel read the message out loud and soon everyone understood what was going on, "Santana, thought you should hear it from me, Roger's court date was today, plead no contest, he'll be sentenced next week, but he's not going to bother us anymore, might want to check on Brittany. Love, Mom."

Rachel finished the text and looked around at everyone, "we have to go find her." Everyone stood up and walked out of the choir room, it didn't take them long to find Santana. When the turned the corner they saw the Latina standing at the entrance of the auditorium just standing there. Quinn put her arms on Santana's shoulder and the Latina turned to her friend with tears in her eyes.

"Santana, where is Brittany?" Santana held open the door so the rest of the group could see inside; sitting on the stage was Brittany audibly crying while sitting on the piano bench.

"I don't know what to say to her Q, he hurt her so bad, and he almost killed us both but he was her father and I don't know how to make her heart stop breaking." And then to everyone's great surprise Santana lost all composure and started sobbing into Quinn's shoulder.

After a moment of just standing their Quinn tried to calm her down, "maybe you can't fix this one San. Sometimes people have to go through the heart break so they can be stronger people, you can't protect her from every bad thing in the world."

"Yes I can." Santana spat back.

"No you can't." Quinn was dead serious. "Santana you will always protect her, you love her it makes sense, but there are things in this world we can't protect people from and heartbreak is the biggest one of those things."

"Then what can I do?"

"When she done being sad, you come in and help pick up the pieces, you help her put her heart back together; that is what you do." Santana nodded and whipped her eyes before looking back to the stage. Brittany had started to play the piano softly and she slowly began to build up sound until it was clear she was playing an actual song. Santana stepped inside the auditorium and the glee members followed, each of them taking a place in the audience. Brittany continued to play and Santana was floored, she had no idea Brittany could play an instrument. But before her shock could register, Brittany started to sing along with the tune coming from the piano.

_2am, where do I begin  
Crying off my face again  
The silent sound of loneliness  
Wants to follow me to bed_

I'm the ghost of a girl  
That I want to be most  
I'm the shell of a girl  
That I used to know well

Dancing slowly in an empty room  
Can the lonely take the place of you  
I sing myself a quiet lullaby  
Then you go and let the lonely in  
To take my heart again

Too afraid, to go inside  
For the pain of one more loveless night  
For the loneliness will stay with me  
And hold me till I fall asleep

I'm the ghost of a girl  
That I want to be most  
I'm the shell of a girl  
That I used to know well

Dancing slowly in an empty room  
Can the lonely take the place of you  
I sing myself a quiet lullaby  
Then you go and let the lonely in  
To take my heart again  


The entire club sat in stunned silence, most of them had tears in their eyes, well most of the girls anyway. Santana was sobbing with Quinn trying to soothe her. Then without warning Santana stopped sobbing, stood up and started walking to the stage door. Soon she was standing behind Brittany as she went into the final verse.

_Broken pieces of  
A barely breathing story  
Where there once was love  
Now there's only me  
And the lonely..._

Dancing slowly in an empty room  
Can the lonely take the place of you  
I sing myself a quiet lullaby  
Then you go and let the lonely in  
To take my heart again...

As Brittany played the song out and the sound of the piano eventually died out she felt a familiar pair of hands on her shoulders.

"It's my fault."

"No, he made his choices Brit, he hurt you, he tried to kill us, he got what her deserved, you didn't do anything wrong ok." Brittany could only nod before she collapsed into Santana's arms. The crying stopped crying after a few minutes and Santana lead the two of them off the stage and back into the choir room with the rest of the club following behind them.

Mr. Shue finally broke the silence, "look guys if we want to end practice early I think that would be alright."

Santana's hand shot up before he could finish talking, "Mr. Shue I have a song I'd like to do." Mr. Shue nodded and sat down next to the piano

"I know that this day kind of took a crappy turn, but it's still Brit's birthday so I wanted to perform this song for her. Happy Birthday baby." Santana nodded to the band and the music filled the room and soon so did her voice.

_All of these lines across my face  
Tell you the story of who I am  
So many stories of where I've been  
And how I got to where I am  
But these stories don't mean anything  
When you've got no one to tell them to  
It's true...I was made for you_

_I climbed across the mountain tops  
Swam all across the ocean blue  
I crossed all the lines and I broke all the rules  
But baby I broke them all for you  
Because even when I was flat broke  
You made me feel like a million bucks  
You do  
I was made for you_

_You see the smile that's on my mouth  
It's hiding the words that don't come out  
And all of my friends who think that I'm blessed  
They don't know my head is a mess  
No, they don't know who I really am  
And they don't know what  
I've been through like you do  
And I was made for you..._

_All of these lines across my face  
Tell you the story of who I am  
So many stories of where I've been  
And how I got to where I am  
But these stories don't mean anything  
When you've got no one to tell them to  
It's true...I was made for you_

When the song ended the whole room jumped to their feet and broke out into applause. Santana looked over to Brittany and was glad to see the blonde with a big smile on her face. She walked over and whipped away a few stray tears and kissed her. "Good tears or bad tears?"

"I love you tears. Thank you."

"I meant every word, I was made for you. I know this day kind of sucked, but I'm hell bent on making it awesome." Brittany smiled and kissed Santana again before they picked up their bags and left. They drove their cars home and when they walked in the door Santana told Brittany to go change so they could go on their date. Brittany practically ran up the stairs while Santana went to put the cake and the food she had ready in the car. When she grabbed the cake there was a note attached to the plate, written in her mother handwriting.

'_Santana, your father and I are staying at your Aunt's tonight so you and Brittany can have the house to yourselves. I measured the alcohol in the cabinet so no funny stuff and don't make me regret this later. Have fun and be safe and tell Brittany Happy Birthday again. –Love, Mom'_

Santana smiled, they had the house to themselves for the whole night. She quickly changed clothes and knocked on Brittany's door. When she opened it Santana couldn't breather for a minute.

"B you look beautiful, I mean like really hot."

"Thanks babe, you do too. You ready to go ?"

"Yep, let's go." Santana lead Brittany downstairs and into the car. The two drove for about 10 minutes before Santana stopped at Brittany's favorite park.

"San, what are we doing here?"

"This is where we are having our date tonight. Now come on I have it all set up." Brittany took Santana's hand and walked with her until they reached the small pond in the middle of the park. Santana put her hand over Brittany's eyes as they got closer, "San what are you doing?"

"It's a surprise baby." Santana had asked Puck, Rachel and Quinn to set up the blanket and what not before the couple arrived and they had done a great job.

"Sit down right here and open your eyes." Brittany opened her eyes and almost started to cry at the sight before her. The blanket had candle set all around it and the moonlight bounced off the water perfectly, it was like they were in a movie.

"San, this is so amazing." Santana kissed her lightly, "I'm glad you like it. Now we have some food courtesy of Breadstix because I know how much you love it and we have some sparkling water so we can at least pretend it alcohol and we have a birthday cake for dessert."

"So you did get me a cake."

"Sort of, I made you a cake." The two dug into the food and enjoyed the scenery and each other and when the food was gone Santana pulled out the cake and lit the candles before putting it in front of Brittany. "Make a wish baby." Brittany closed her eyes tightly and after a moment she quickly blew out the candles with one big blow.

"What did you wish for?"

"I can't tell you that silly it would mean it wouldn't come true."

"Well we can't have that." Santana handed Brittany a slice of cake and they sat there eating the cake and enjoying the silence that surrounded them, after the day they had had, silence was what they both needed. When they had finished off their cake Santana packed up the basket and put it back in the car before returning to Brittany and helping her get the rest of their things. When they walked back to the car Brittany placed a kiss on Santana cheek.

"What was that for?"

"For my birthday really perfect eve after what happened today."

"I love you B."

"I love you too. So where we going now."

"Home."

"It's 7:30 and you want to go home."

Santana leaned in and whispered in Brittany's ear, "my parents and brother are at my Aunt's until tomorrow, we have an empty house to ourselves. So I'm going to take you home and when we get there I want you to do me a favor."

"What?"

"By the time we get to my bedroom I want you completely naked." Santana smirked as she put the car in drive and took off toward the house.

**So yeah, sorry about the wait, but sexy times are ahead so that will be cool, I hope. You all know the drill if you want more review. Thanks for reading.**


	11. Can you milk ducks?

**Sorry for the wait everyone, I'm on break and visiting family in Utah for the week so I've been busy, but hopefully you guys enjoy this.**

When they pulled into the garage Brittany literally ran into the house and upstairs to Santana's room. Santana smirked and grabbed the picnic supplies from the car and put them into the kitchen before following Brittany's path. When she opened the door to her room Brittany was nowhere to be seen.

"B? Baby where are you?" After she said it Brittany appeared in the doorway of the bathroom and as Santana had requested she wasn't wearing anything.

"I'm right here. You gonna make me stand here all night or are you going to come wish me a happy birthday?" Santana closed the door behind her and quickly made her way over to Brittany and caught the blond in a searing, passionate kiss. After struggling for dominance Santana pulled away and in between of sucking on Brit's neck she whispered in a husky voice, "tell me what you want, it's your present."

Brittany breathed into Santana's ear, "I want you to fuck me hard against the till I scream your name so loud that the people down the street can hear." Santana would be lying if she had said that Brittany talking like that didn't turn her on; she loved it when Brittany took charge and talked dirty. Without having to think twice Santana pinned Brittany to the wall and was already working her way down her collarbone, leaving a trail of kisses in her wake.

Urged on by Brittany's moaning Santana slowly moved lower and captured one of Brittany's breasts in her mouth while her hand massaged the other one. She did this for several moments, alternating positions before moving back up and bringing Brittany back in for another kiss. As she did she took Brittany's nipple in between her thumb and index finger. This elicited a sharp gasp from Brittany who started to beg for more contact.

"S-S-Santana?"

"What baby?"

"I want, I want…"

"What do you want B? Tell me."

"Fuck me." Santana smirked and quickly found Brittany's dripping wet core and slipped two fingers in garnering another gasp from the writhing blond underneath her.

"So wet baby." Santana started a steady rhythm, but Brittany kept bucking her hips like she wanted more. "B tell me what you want."

"More." Santana quickly added another finger and picked up speed, pressing further into her lover and thus pressing Brittany harder against the wall. Brittany started to moan louder and louder and Santana could feel her tighten around her fingers; she knew Brittany was close. She pulled away from kissing Brittany and whispered in her ear, "B, I got you baby, let go and come for me." No soon had she said this then Brittany lost all control and waves from her orgasm hit her. Santana rode out the tremors, keeping her rhythm. When Brittany stopped shaking Santana gently kissed her and grabbed her hand and pulled her towards the bed. Both of them collapsed on the bed and wrapped a sheet around them before settling in and cuddling. After a few minutes of silence and heaving breathing, Brittany's breathing evened out and she turned to face Santana.

"I love you, you know that right?"

"Of course I do, happy birthday baby."

"Best birthday present ever."

"What the sex or me?"

"You, the sex was good, amazing actually, but you are the best gift I ever got." Brittany laid her head on Santana's chest and pulled the Latina closer to her. Santana thought it was cute that Brittany listened to her heartbeat, sometimes it was the only thing to calm her down. After a few minutes of silence Santana spoke up.

"Britt?"

"Uh huh?"

"What do you think about meeting my family, like my aunts and uncle s and cousins and stuff?"

Brittany picker her head up and looked at Santana, "you want me to meet your family?"

"Unless you don't want to…"

"No, no it's not that I want to, but are you sure your ready to tell them about us?"

"B, I want strangers walking down the street to know about us and how happy we are. I'll tell you what I ask my aunt if you can be my date for the Mother's Day brunch we have every year and if she seems cool about it then we go from there."

"What if they don't like me?"

"Then fuck them; I love you more than anything and anyone in this world and because of that I know that they are going to love you, but if they don't or they have a problem with us being a couple then they can go milk a duck."

"I didn't think you could milk ducks." Santana smiled and mentally kicked herself for her poor choice of words.

"Does that mean you'll come?"

"I would love to." Santana gave her a quick peck and settled back down into the pillow. "Perfect, now let's put at least some shirts on so my mother doesn't get too mad at me."

**Short I know, but next chapter will be a mother's day chapter and I want Brittany to give something to Santana's mom considering she has been such an important mother figure to her. Five reviews for the next chapter folks and hopefully this one comes sooner. Three more weeks till finals then summer.**


	12. Simple Things Are The Most Beautiful

**So Mother's Day Chapter…figured I would get it up before I get super swamped with finals stuff which all this next week and the week after so after this you all may have to be patient for the next chapter till after the 18****th****. Anyway, thanks for everyone who reviewed and story alerted.**

The next morning when Santana woke up the house was still empty save for her and Brittany who was still fast asleep next to her. She quietly rolled out of bed and grabbed her robe and her cell phone before heading downstairs. She grabbed some stuff out of the fridge for breakfast and before she broke the first egg she sent off a text to her Aunt. About five minutes later her phone rang: leave it to an adult to answer a text message with a phone call. She took the eggs off the stove and quickly grabbed her phone.

"Hey Auntie."

"So my niece wants to bring a date to Mother's Day at my house, huh, last time I saw you said that you and I quote 'don't do dating'."

"Things are different now, I'm different and I have a date that I want the family to meet, but I wanted to make sure it was ok with you, I mean it's your house and everything."

"Of course you can bring a date to brunch Santana. So what is this Casanova's name? Must be someone very special for you to bring them around the entire family?

Santana hesitated, she hadn't thought this far ahead and coming out on the phone was not on her list of things to do this morning, "uh, it's a surprise."

"A surprise huh, well can I have a hint. Have I met them before?"

She had meet Brittany several times before, but once again Santana didn't know what to say, "yeah you've meet them before, several times actually."

"Well, let's see I've only meet some of your school friends once, the only person I've spent any long period of time with was that one summer when we went camping and you brought…" Her aunt trailed off and Santana was dead silent because she knew her Aunt remembered that summer when Brittany came camping with her folks and her Aunt and Uncle.

After a few moment of silence Santana got worried, "Aunite, you still there?"

"Yes dear I'm still here, hold on one second." Santana heard footsteps over the phone and heard a door open before she heard her Aunt yell, "Eddie, you owe me 50 bucks." Santana cracked a smile as she heard her Uncle yell back, "damn it Veronica she just said she was bringing a date she didn't say what gender they were, maybe they are just friends."

"Santana." Her Aunt focused back on the phone conversation.

"Yeah."

"Are you dating someone, like romantically?"

"Yes."

"Is this someone a boy?"

"No Auntie it's not a boy."

"Are you dating Brittany?"

"Yes I am dating Brittany." She could hear her Aunt scream and once again yell at her Uncle, "see told you, she and Brittany are dating so pay up buddy."

"Thanks a lot Santana." She heard her Uncle grumble in the background.

"Eddie shut up. Santana, we would be thrilled to have Brittany join us for Mother's Day. Remind your mom that she is bringing dessert and things are going to start over here around 11, but you can come over whenever you'd like alright."

"Great I'll tell mom, Auntie can I ask you something?"

"Of course honey?"

"You not mad or anything right, about me and Britt."

"Santana you didn't honestly think we would be mad at you for being gay did you? We may be a crazy bunch of people, but at the end of the day we're family. Are you happy with Brittany?"

"Deliriously."

"Do you love her?"

"I've always loved her."

"How could I be mad at that? You found someone that softened you a little bit. Besides you just earned me 50 bucks."

"I better get half of that, it was after all my sexuality you were betting on." Brittany had finally made it downstairs and she was still not wearing anything but the shirt she fell asleep in. "Britt, baby my folks are gonna be home soon you gotta put some pants on." Santana heard her Aunt chuckle on the other line, "what is so funny?"

"Why is Brittany walking around your house without pants? You are such a horn dog."

"Leave me alone, it was her birthday last night and besides it is technically her house too."

"She's living with you?"

"I explain it tomorrow alright, I gotta go finish making us some food, I'll see you guys tomorrow."

"Alright honey, tell Brittany I said hello and tell my sister to call me tonight."

"I will, bye Auntie."

The next morning Santana was rushing around her room getting ready. She was wearing a black and white print dress which hit just above the knee. She was trying to find the matching shoe to the heels she was wearing and it appeared her closet had eaten it. When she finally found it her mother called from downstairs, "Santana we're leaving now, you almost ready?"

"Yep, we'll be about 15 minutes behind you."

"Alright, lock the door behind you." Santana heard the front door close and she made her way to Brittany's room. "Baby you ready we gotta go soon." When she opened the door Brittany was putting on her flats and Santana stood in the doorway just smiling.

"What are you looking at?"

"You look great B."

"You think so."

"I know so, now come on I don't want to be late."

The drive to her Aunt's house was quiet and when they pulled up in front of the house Santana killed the engine, but as she got out of the car Brittany just sat there.

"B, you gonna come inside?"

"What if they don't like me?"

"Brittany, that's insane, they are going to love you. You've met my Aunt and Uncle before and the love you and besides they love me and I love you so I know that they are going to love you." Santana offered Brittany her hand to help her out of the car, Brittany smiled and took it. They walked up the front steps and Santana opened the door and stepped inside pulling Brittany inside with her.

"Hello, your favorite niece is here."

"You're my only niece." When Santana looked toward the kitchen her Aunt was leaning against the doorway. Her Aunt walked towards them and opened her arms up and grabbed Santana into a big hug. Brittany watched as the two women exchanged hellos and talked rapid fire Spanish. Eventually Santana turned toward Brittany, "Auntie, you remember Brittany?" Brittany smiled and stuck out her hand which Veronica ignored and hugged the girl just like she had done to her niece moments before. "You're family, family hugs dear." Brittany smiled and hugged the older women back.

When she let go Veronica guided both girls in to the backyard where everyone seemed to have congregated. Santana didn't make it far before three young boys of various ages tackled her almost making her fall down.

"Aye dios mio, have you ankles bitters been lifting weights, you almost knocked me down." The three boys giggled and one of them looked behind Santana at Brittany, "who is she?"

"This is Brittany you guys, Britt these are some of my cousins, the tall one right here is Daniel, the one running around barefoot is Manny and this little tyrant is Andy." She picked up the smallest boy and he flashed Brittany a toothy grin and waved shyly. Brittany waved back and the boy buried his head in Santana's dress.

"Now Andy, don't go stealing my girl." She set the little boy down and he ran off to find his mother and his cousins chased after him. Santana grabbed Brittany's hand and walked over to the rest of her family.

"Everyone this is Brittany, Brittany this is the rest of my family. Next to my Aunt Veronica is her husband Eddie who you have met before and Daniel is their son and I assume my cousin Carmen will be here eventually and she is Daniel's older sister. Next to mom and dad is my Aunt Amelia and Uncle Carlos and Manny and Andy are their boys." Brittany tried to remember ever name Santana had just gone over, but she was pretty sure she was going to forget them.

Before anyone could say anything a voice came from behind Santana, "and if she forgets anyone's name she could punch them in the shoulder and say hey you with the face." When Brittany turned around there was a young woman who looked like Santana's twin walking toward them. Santana quickly left Brittany's side and ran to meet the woman Brittany assumed to be her other cousin. Santana waved Brittany over to where they were standing, "Britt, this is my cousin Carmen, Carmen this is my girlfriend Brittany." The other Latina turned toward Brittany and smiled before hugging her, "so you're the beautiful blonde that has my cousin wrapped around your finger."

"I am not wrapped around her finger."

Both Brittany and Carmen jumped in, "yes you are." Santana started to pout but Brittany kissed her check and she couldn't help but smile. Carmen laughed, "I take it back you're not wrapped around her finger, you're whipped." Santana chased her cousin around the yard until their mothers told them something in Spanish that made them stop and it made Brittany laugh. Eventually they all settled into eat and everyone got to talking about work, school and of course Glee.

Veronica turned to Santana, "so how is that glee club competition going?"

"We didn't win this year, but next year I know we're going to win the whole thing, I can feel it."

"Next year Mr. Shue said he would give Sanny more solos and showcase everyone's talent more, that maybe the mix of all our talent would be the best tactic." Brittany beamed before turning back toward her food and she missed the small laugh that everyone shared at Santana's nickname.

Carmen piped in, "so Sanny, any chance you're gonna showcase this talent for the family?"

"You call my Sanny one more time I'll beat you over the head with my guitar, only Brits can call me that." Her cousin laughed at how beat red Santana was, "seriously Santana, play something for us." Everyone clamored and begged Santana to play something for them. "Ok, ok, I was gonna play something later for mother's day anyway but since everyone is so inpatient I'll do it now. Brit, baby can you go grab my guitar out of the car?" Brittany grabbed the keys from Santana and walked out front, returning moments later with the guitar case in hand. She whispered something to Brittany and sat back down in one of the patio chairs and tuned the guitar before she began to sing.

_In my daughter's eyes I am a hero  
I am strong and wise and I know no fear  
But the truth is plain to see  
She was sent to rescue me  
I see who I wanna be  
In my daughter's eyes_

In my daughter's eyes everyone is equal  
Darkness turns to light and the  
world is at peace  
This miracle God gave to me gives me  
strength when I am weak  
I find reason to believe  
In my daughter's eyes

And when she wraps her hand  
around my finger  
Oh it puts a smile in my heart  
Everything becomes a little clearer  
I realize what life is all about

It's hangin' on when your heart  
has had enough  
It's giving more when you feel like giving up  
I've seen the light  
It's in my daughter's eyes

Santana turned her head slightly and caught Brittany's gaze and sang the last verse while looking in her direction.__

In my daughter's eyes I can see the future  
A reflection of who I am and what will be  
Though she'll grow and someday leave  
Maybe raise a family  
When I'm gone I hope you see how happy  
she made me  
For I'll be there  
In my daughter's eyes

Angela got up from her seat and gave Santana a hug as a few stray tears fell down her checks. When she sat down everyone complimented Santana and clamored for another song. Santana tried to think of another one she knew well when Brittany whispered something in her ear. She took a seat next to Santana and it became clear that this song was gonna be a duet. Santana played the first few chords befre Brittany jumped into the first verse.

(Britt)

_Although you see the world different than me  
Sometimes I can touch upon the wonders that you see  
All the new colors and pictures you've designed  
Oh yes, sweet darling  
So glad you are a child of mine_

Child of mine, child of mine  
Oh yes, sweet darling  
So glad you are a child of mine  


_(Santana)  
You don't need direction, you know which way to go  
And I don't want to hold you back, I just want to watch you grow  
You're the one who taught me you don't have to look behind  
Oh yes, sweet darling  
So glad you are a child of mine_

Child of mine, child of mine  
Oh yes, sweet darling  
So glad you are a child of mine  


_(Britt)  
Nobody's gonna kill your dreams  
Or tell you how to live your life_

_(Santana)  
There'll always be people to make it hard for a while  
But you'll change their heads when they see you smile  
_

_(Both)  
The times you were born in may not have been the best  
But you can make the times to come better than the rest  
I know you will be honest if you can't always be kind  
Oh yes, sweet darling  
So glad you are a child of mine_

Child of mine, child of mine,  
Oh yes, sweet darling  
So glad you are a child of mine

Child of mine, child of mine  
Oh yes, sweet darling  
So glad you are a child of mine

The whole backyard went nuts, congratulating the girls and saying how beautifully they sang, everyone with a few tears that threatened to fall from their eyes. Once everyone settled down dessert was brought out and everyone dug in. The younger kids were eager to give their mother the gifts that their fathers' no doubt bought and picked out, but they were excited all the same. Santana went into the house and grabbed the gift she had gotten her mom and when she came back Brittany wasn't at the table. She figured she just went to the bathroom or something so she handed her mother the package and Angela opened it. It was a simple necklace, a locket to be exact with a picture of Santana on one side and her mother in the other side. Angela hugged Santana again and with some help put the necklace on. When everyone sat back down Brittany had come back outside and she had a small box in her hand. She walked over and placed the box in front of Angela.

"Happy Mother's Day."

Angela looked up at Brittany and smiled, "Brittany sweetie you didn't have to get me anything."

"I know, but I wanted too. I know you're not really my mom, although sometimes I wish you were, but then Sanny and I would be sister and that would be weird and illegal. Point is, I've known you my whole life, you've always been like my other mom and now you're my only mom. You didn't have to take me in after my folks kicked me out, you didn't have to protect me from them afterwards, you didn't have to do any of it, but you did and I'll never be able to thank you enough for that. I don't have anything fancy to give you, but Sanny told me that sometimes the simplest things in life are the most beautiful. I saw this in the mall last week and I wanted you to have it and to thank you for loving me when my own mother wouldn't." The entire table was dead silent except for Angela and Santana who were both crying audibly; no one knew Brittany could be that deep. Angela stood up and hugged Brittany and held the teen closer to her and soon Brittany had tears in her eyes as well. Brittany sat down next Santana on the bench swing while Angela opened the box. When she lifted the object out of the box everyone got to see what it was: it was a snow globe with a ballerina inside of it.

Angela walked over to Brittany and kissed the top of her head, "it's beautiful Brittany, I love it. When we get home it's going on top the fireplace mantle." Angela gently placed the gift back in the box and set it inside so it wouldn't get broken. Santana held Brittany closer to her and kept on swinging. Brittany snuggled into Santana to the point where she was practically in the Latina's lap, not that Santana would complain. After about ten minutes Santana whispered in Brittany's ear.

"My mom isn't the only one who loves you, you know that right, I love you more than anything."

"Why?"

"Why, what?

"Why do you love me? All I've done is complicate your life, I've almost gotten you killed twice, I'm just the stupid blonde orphan that screwed up your life." Santana was shocked, she never heard Brittany talk like this, ever, even on her worst day. "Brittany, first of, I never, ever want to hear you call yourself stupid again. You're not stupid Britt, you just aren't book smart, you do ok in school, but when it comes to life you know how to survive and thrive in the real world. Second, you aren't an orphan, you always have a place to live and stay in my house and we are family, these people here are your family now, so you are not an orphan. And third, you haven't screwed up my life at all, you make my life better everyday you're in it do you understand that. I love you because you make me a better person when I'm around you, you make me smile when I'm mad, you know what I'm thinking and feeling even when I don't and you loved me even when everyone else thought I was just some bitch. It is impossible for me to not love you Brittany, there will never be a day that my heart doesn't belong to you, got that."

Brittany nodded and wrapped herself around Santana more. Eventually Santana came up with an idea. "What if I sang to you, would that make you feel better?" Brittany smiled and shook her head yes. Santana got up from the swing and grabbed her guitar again before sitting back down next to Brittany.

_Take me where I've never been,  
Help me on my feet again.  
Show me that good things come to those who wait.  
Tell me I'm not on my own.  
Tell me I won't be alone.  
Tell me what I'm feelin' isn't some mistake.  
'cause if anyone can make me fall in love,  
You can._

Save me from myself, you can.  
And it's you and no one else.  
If I could wish upon tomorrow,  
Tonight would never end.  
If you asked me, I would follow.  
But for now, I just pretend.  
'cause if anyone can make me fall in love,  
You can.  


By now the rest of the family had started to listen to Santana sing to Brittany.

_Baby, when you look at me,  
Tell me, what do you see?  
Are these the eyes of someone you could love?  
'Cause everything that brought me here,  
Well, now it all seems so clear.  
Baby, you're the one that I've been dreamin' of.  
'cause if anyone can make me fall in love,  
You can._

Save me from myself, you can.  
And it's you and no one else.  
If I could wish upon tomorrow,  
Tonight would never end.  
If you asked me, I would follow.  
But for now, I just pretend.  
'cause if anyone can make me fall in love...

Only you can take me sailin' in your deepest eyes.  
Bring me to my knees and make me cry.  
And no one's ever done this,  
Everything was just a lie.  
And I know, yes I know...  


Santana set the guitar down and finished the song acapella. She took Brittany's hands in her own and brushed away the steady stream of tears that were moving down her checks.

_This is where it all begins,  
So tell me it'll never end.  
I can't fool myself,  
It's you and no one else.  
If I could wish upon tomorrow,  
Tonight would never end.  
If you asked me, I would follow.  
But for now, I just pretend.  
Cause if anyone can make me fall in love,  
You can._

Show me that good things come to those who wait

Santana leaned forward and kissed Brittany briefly before pulling away and whispering, "the simplest things in life are the most beautiful."

As her Aunt, mother and cousin watched this exchange her cousin spoke first, "ok so do you think they'll actually wait until they graduate before they get married or do we figure that once they are 18 they're going to make a break for Connecticut?" Angela didn't know which was more plausible, but she knew one thing, Brittany may not be her daughter, but soon enough she would be her daughter in law.

**Hope you guys liked it. Next chapter will be around Prom and that kind of thing, so if you want that next chapter click that review button and let me hear what you think.**


	13. Beat Back Love

**So finals are here once again so can't update again till next weekend, but then summer will be here…my last real summer vacation before college is over next year. Oh well, on with Brittana. And I have several issues with the prom episode: I could have done without the Sue and Artie storyline, Brittany and Santana should have kissed, and the whole thing felt rushed, like they were trying to address every storyline in an hour.**

That week the halls at McKinley were full of teenagers going out of their way to be romantic in asking their boyfriend or girlfriend to prom. Santana looked at them and she would be the first to admit, some of them were cute ideas, but most of them sucked. She had spent all last week working on a song for Brittany which was hard because they lived in the same house, so Santana had to get creative with her practicing. Mr. Shue had told the club that they could have a free topic week, meaning they could sing what they wanted as long as it helped them practice for Nationals in the long run. Mostly he knew that every song would be about going to Prom so he figured, why fight it?

Santana wasn't the only person to want to ask her significant other out to Prom in song, but she made sure her proposal was unique, besides Brittany loved Glee club and she was going to pick a way to be asked to Prom, through song would be the first pick. They walked into the choir room that day and sat down and before Mr. Shue could ask if someone wanted to perform Quinn's hand shot up.

"Mr. Shue, I'd like to go." A very pale looking Quinn made her way up to the front of the room. Santana eyed her friend carefully trying to figure out what the hell was wrong with her and what she was up to. When she saw Quinn shoot Rachel a quick smile she knew what was wrong and more importantly she knew what was coming. Quinn handed Brad and the band some music before returning to the front of the room.

"I know that singing to ask someone to Prom is cheesy, but I think this person will appreciate it." Quinn swallowed hard before nodding to Brad and then she jumped into the song

_I was around  
The first time you fell down,  
Picked you up off of the playground  
And I've never once asked  
"Hey what about me?"_

_I've been the one  
Between all your boyfriends, (_Santana rolled her eyes and Rachel stifled a laugh)_  
To hold you  
And all of your problems;  
What do I have to do to make you see?_

You beat back love  
But somebody wants you.  
You had enough,  
But somebody needs you.  
You push and shove,  
But somebody's still in love with you.  
Yea You fight it off,  
But somebody finds you.  
You build a wall,  
But it doesn't hide you.  
You try to fall,  
But somebody won't let go of you;  
Yea somebody will always be in love with you. 

Even though she was still terrified Quinn started to dance around the room a little bit and get into the song; if she was going to go down, she was goin' down swing.__

Yea and I'm the one you've always been close to,  
Know all the things that I'm not supposed to,  
Saved you from all the wolves at 2AM. 

Everyone save for Rachel, Santana and Brittany was still confused as to who Quinn was talking about in the song, but they didn't have to wait for very long.

_All the nights you were lying beside me,  
Too close for friends in the light of a TV,  
When will the longing stop and the love begin? _

_(Quinn got right in front of Rachel and sang the line right to her; people weren't really sure what they had just seen, surely Quinn hadn't just indicated that Rachel was her Prom date hopefully.)_

_You beat back love  
But somebody wants you.  
You had enough,  
But somebody needs you.  
You push and shove,  
But somebody's still in love with you.  
Yea You fight it off,  
But somebody finds you.  
You build a wall,  
But it doesn't hide you.  
You try to fall,  
But somebody won't let go of you;  
Yea somebody will always be in love with you._

You beat back love  
But somebody wants you.  
You had enough,  
But somebody needs you.  
You push and shove,  
But somebody's still in love with you.  
Yea You fight it off,  
But somebody finds you.  
You build a wall,  
But it doesn't hide you.  
You try to fall,  
But somebody won't let go of you; (Quinn grabbed Rachel up out of her seat and pulled her in close)

_Yea somebody will always be  
That somebody has always been me  
And I will I will always be in love with you_

When the music died out Rachel pulled Quinn into a passionate kiss which caused several people's mouths to hit the floor; Kurt was having his own mini diva tantrum in the back row mumbling about how he totally saw this coming. When they separated Quinn smiled, "so is that a yes?"

"What do you think?" The girls made their way back to their seat hand in hand and as they sat down Finn shot up out of his seat clearly upset, but before he could speak Santana appeared at his side and pulled him in so that she could whisper and be heard.

"Listen Finn, I get that your mad and confused by this and no one blames you for that, this is new and confusing information, it took me time to get used to it too. I'm not saying to have to accept it right away, but you have to at least try. And one more thing, you say anything, anything to them that isn't dripping with sincerity and love and I will personally make sure you never procreate, got it."

"I don't know what that means."

Santana shook her head, no wonder he thought he had knocked Quinn up via hot tub, "it means that you may be mad right know, but if you do anything to ruin the happiness the two of them have found with each other I will make you feel more pain then you thought plausible, do you understand that?" The boy nodded and sat back down, but Santana went to the front of the classroom.

"Not to be out done by the gay pride parade we all just witnessed, but I have my own Prom proposal that I think kicks the crap out of Quinn's." Quinn rolled her eyes, but smiled, Santana would always be a bitch, but they were friend after all. Puck came down to help Santana out and Santana cued the music and started to sing.

Now I wanna do it up (SO BIG)  
Party it up (SO BIG)  
Spend it up (SO BIG)  
So the whole world knows my love for you is (SO BIG)  
My heart is (SO BIG)  
My love is (SO BIG)  
For you, for you, for you.

Now with a girl like you,  
Nothing you can do  
But give the whole world to her 24-7.  
When she lookin so sweet that kind of body,  
You do man spending all of your time, time, time.  
And it's not that you're asking me for nothing,  
I just wanna show you how deep my love is.

Cause with them girls before I wasn't feeling so gone,  
But with you girl I'm losing control oh.

Now I wanna do it up (SO BIG)  
Party it up (SO BIG)  
Spend it up (SO BIG)  
So the whole world knows my love for you is (SO BIG)  
My heart is (SO BIG)  
My love is (SO BIG)  
For you, for you, for you.

Now with a girl like you,  
I don't care who passes my way,  
Rihanna or Beyonce. (Santana did the single ladies move with her hand and Brittany laughed)  
Girl holla at me it doesn't mean I think cause,  
Nothing compares to the joy you bring.

So them other girls can go, they don't make me feel so, good.  
Cause with you girl I'm losing control oh.

Now I wanna do it up (SO BIG)  
Party it up (SO BIG)  
Spend it up (SO BIG)  
So the whole world knows my love for you is (SO BIG)  
My heart is (SO BIG)  
My love is (SO BIG)  
For you, for you, for you.

I wanna do it (SO BIG),  
cause girl we are (SO BIG),  
Let's pop them bottles (SO BIG),  
like superstars (SO BIG).  
We taken over (SO BIG),  
we got that love (SO BIG),  
Let's make it global (SO BIG),  
let's blow it up (SO BIG).  
Ooooooh, Oooooh Oh Oh Oh Com'on

If this is real love, then that ain't enough (no) before,  
She got your boy doin crazy things that I never thought I'd ever do, no.

As she sang that line, Santana unzipped her hoodie to reveal that she was wearing a white tshirt that had Prom with a question mark written on it. She walked up to Brittany and handed her a black felt marker and while she wrote her answer on the shirt Santana continued to sing.

Now I wanna do it up (SO BIG)  
Party it up (SO BIG)  
Spend it up (SO BIG)  
So the whole world knows my love for you is (SO BIG)  
My heart is (SO BIG)  
My love is (SO BIG)  
For you, for you, for you.

Santana looked down and saw that Brittany had of course written yes and she quickly pulled the girl close to her and finished the song.

My heart is for you, for you, for you,  
My love is for you, for you, for you.  
My heart is for you, for you, for you,  
My love is for you, for you, for you.

Everyone applauded and cat called when they kissed at the end of the song, but Santana couldn't care less because Brittany had said yes, she was going to the Junior Prom with her girlfriend. The girls returned to their seat and Brittany was gushing with Rachel over what had just happened to both of them and Santana soon felt Quinn tap her on the shoulder.

"Something I can do for you Juno?"

"That was sweet and very out of character for you."

"Well I could say the same for you, you coming out and all isn't exactly something you do every day, if I wasn't a bitch I'd say that I'm proud of you or something like that."

"Thanks, I think. That was a nice Prom proposal, Britt looks happy. But you have to be careful, you keep doing all this romantic crap and you're going to run out of ideas for a marriage proposal."

The bell rang, but as she stood to leave Santana turned to Quinn and smiled, "not to worry Quinn, I have more than enough ideas for popping the question." Santana turned around and grabbed Brittany's hand before they walked out the room. Quinn stayed sitting, in some kind of shock; Quinn was just kidding, but Santana wasn't, she was gonna marry Brittany someday.

**So review for more and be patient cuz I'm trying to get more out before I move into my new apartment so lots of things are going on in my life, but I'll always try to make time for this story and my other ones. Review for more.**


	14. Watch and Learn

**So finals are over and summer is here. I'm moving into my apartment and trying to get ready for graduate school applications and working, but I wanted to update. I'I went to Glee live and breathes the same air as Naya Rivera and her performance and Heather's just made my life perfectly wonderful. Enjoy.**

The night of the Prom Brittany insisted that she get ready at Quinn's while Rachel and Santana got ready at Santana's. This of course made Santana mad as it meant she would have to get ready while listening to Rachel rambling, but she was a push over when it came to Brittany; what Brittany wants, she gets, from Santana anyway. After hair and makeup was taken care of at the salon that Santana had been going to since she was young they both went back to her house and headed up stairs to get into their dresses. Once she was done putting her dress on Santana went downstairs into the garage fridge to get the corsage that she had gotten for Brittany. She went back upstairs to get her shoes and purse and to grab Rachel from Brittany's room.

"Berry you ready, the limo will be here in 15 minutes." When she got no answer she opened the door to find Rachel sitting on the bed hold a framed picture of Santana and Brittany in her hands.

"Berry, we gotta go, my mom is meeting us at Quinn's to take pictures and we all know how much you hate being late for having your picture taken." Rachel looked up from looking at the picture and looked at Santana. She wasn't crying, but there wear unshed tears threatening to fall. Santana sat down next to her on the bed.

"What on earth could you possibly crying about now? You're going to your Junior Prom with your smokin' hot girlfriend, your riding in a limo, everyone in Glee is super supportive minus Finn, what could possibly make you sad right now?"

"I'm scared."

"Of what."

"Everyone."

"I'm no Freud but that sounds like a pretty irrational fear to me. Why are you afraid of everyone?"

"Because I'm not as strong as you, we aren't like you and Brittany."

"You mean you and Q, Rachel that's ridiculous you and Q are just a strong as me and Britts are, we just happen to have the edge of me being a total bitch." Rachel smiled and looked at Santana.

"You called me Rachel."

"Well that's your name isn't it?"

"Yeah but you never call me that."

"I promised Q that I would try being nicer to you, this is me trying. But that is beside the point, look Rachel I'm not gonna lie to you high school sucks and its sucks twice as hard if your different and you, me, Britts and Q, we're different. Hell the whole damn Glee club is different. So you may get laughed at, or called a nasty name or something along those lines, but we all have something that those rat bastards will never have."

"What?"

"We have each other, we have our girlfriends, and we have friends that love and protect us. Rachel you and Q may not be Brittany and I, but you are just as strong and you can handle whatever those bullies throw at you ok. And beside it's not like you're going it alone, you have people that care about you Rachel, myself included. But if you tell anyone I was nice to you I will deny it, clear."

Rachel smiled and stood up from the bed, "Crystal. Let go pick up our dates." Rachel grabbed her shoes and her purse as she walked out of the room with Santana close behind her. When they got downstairs the limo was waiting for them. The drive to Quinn's place was quick and within 15 minutes of leaving Santana's house they were pulling up in front of Quinn's house. The driver opened the back door and helped Santana out of the car. Santana turned around and helped Rachel out of the limo and started to walk toward the door before realizing that Rachel was still standing perfectly still.

"Rach, come on or we will be late."

Rachel shook herself from her trance and smiled, "you called me Rach."

Santana rolled her eyes, "don't let it get around that I don't hate you or it will ruin my street cred, now come on my lady is waiting and I wants to get my mack on. And your lady will be mad if we keep them waiting." Santana rung the door bell as she winked at Rachel.

"About that, Quinn's mom doesn't know about…." Rachel got cut off by Santana waving her hand, "watch and learn hobbit, I like Judy, but she is no rocket scientist, Britt and I hang out here often enough and she is still clueless." As she finished her sentence the door swung open and there stood a middle aged version of Quinn.

"Hi Judy, it lovely to see you again." Santana smiled and Rachel was stunned, this was a new side of Santana.

"Hello Santana, we haven't seen you around here lately I was beginning to think you were trying to avoid us."

"Of course not Judy, school has been keeping me busy and Glee has made it that much worse."

"I understand dear, good for you for keeping up with your studies. Any boyfriends I have to worry about." Santana coughed to cover and laugh, "Judy I assure you that there are no boyfriends for you to worry about."

"Good girl, spend time with your girlfriends, enjoy being young before you get married and settle down." Judy turned to Rachel and extended her hand, "Now that must make you Rachel Berry, Quinn has spoken so highly about you and your voice I feel like I know you already." Rachel shook the older woman's hand, "it's a pleasure to meet you Mrs. Fabray."

"Please call me Judy, the girls should be down in a minute. I think it's great you all are going together, having a regular girl night out."

"Like you said Judy, boys are stupid and nothing but trouble, so we figured we can go out together and enjoy each others company." Judy smiled and shouted up stairs to Quinn and Brittany that the other girls were here. Moments after she shouted Quinn came down the stairs first followed closely by Brittany. It was a good thing that Judy was standing in front of them because once their girlfriends were in full view both Santana's and Quinn's jaws hit the floor. Judy said something about them being beautiful and ran into the den to get her camera. Rachel was still dumbfounded, but Santana wasn't new to this game she went up to Brittany and pulled her in a searing kiss that she broke very quickly.

"You are the most beautiful girl alive right now you know that right." Brittany giggled, "I take it that means I look good."

"You look fan-fucking-tastic baby, people are going to be so jealous of us." At that moment Judy walked in with her camera and started taking pictures. Soon Angela showed up and gushed over how beautiful all the girls looked and took some more pictures. After 20 minutes of smiling the girls convinced their mothers to let them leave the house. They walked outside and the driver opened the door and helped each of them in before climbing into the driver seat and pulling away from the house.

No that they were safe from the prying eyes of Quinn's mother Rachel leaned over and kissed Quinn, quickly getting her attention. "I've wanted to do that for half an hour."

Quinn smirked, "no one is stopping you now." She grabbed the back of Rachel's neck and the quickly started making out, not that they were the only ones. Santana had her tongue permanently down Brittany's throat since the door had closed. When they all broke for air and their makeup was fixed, Santana reached into the mini fridge and grabbed the corsage she had got for Brit and handed Rachel the one for Quinn. The girl of course gushed over the flowers and quickly put them on. The made small talk for the remainder of the ride and soon found themselves in front of the school gym. The driver once again came around to their side of the car and helped the ladies out of the car. Santana gave him the time to be back by and turned around to grab hold of Brittany. They walked in leaving Quinn and Rachel standing at the gym entrance.

"Ready?" Quinn held out her hand, waiting for Rachel to take it.

After a very deep breath Rachel took her hand, "ready."

**I know it's short, but I just got back from the concert tonight. I rocked my Lebanese shirt and am going to sleep in it. The next chapter will be the actual Prom. Hope you like how I did Santana and Rachel in this one. Review if you all want more, 5 for a new chapter please. Enjoy the session finale and lets all hope that the "big bang Brittana moment" isn't something lame or depressing…I'm gonna go watch it now.**


	15. Lesbian Fairytale

**Prom chapter as promised; let me know what you all think.**

When they walked into the Prom the girls quickly made their way through the crowd of people and found the rest of the glee club that had settled on one large table toward the back of the room, closest to the stage. They all exchanged hugs and the girls raved about each other's dresses before they settled into their seats. The regular list of prom songs played in the background while everyone shouted to be heard over the blasting tunes. All the glee members had been given a time slot to perform in, some of them doing solos and other doing duets. Their performances were scheduled to start roughly half an hour into the dance, giving all of them some time to celebrate together as a group. Half way through a conversation with Tina Santana felt Brittany pull on her hand.

"What is it babe?"

"I love this song, come dance with me." It wasn't a question, more like a demand and Santana wasn't about to staying seated while Brittany danced around the dance floor. Tina grabbed Mike and soon most of the club was on the floor and when the lyrics kicked in a switched got turned on in Brittany and she started wiping out expert dance move.

_Maybe I need some rehab  
Or maybe just need some sleep  
I got a sick obsession  
I'm seeing it in my dreams  
I'm lookin down every alley  
I'm making those desperate calls  
I'm staying up all night hoping hitting my head against the wall_

Brittany grabbed Santana and pulled her closer to her and started dancing with her and they both got really into the song; Brittany always loved a good Ke$ha song.

_What you got boy, is hard to find  
I think about it all the time  
I'm all strung out my heart is fried  
I just cant get you off my mind!_

Brittany ran her hands up and down Santana's torso as they swayed to the music, they tried to kept it PG, but they are Santana and Brittany, some groping was expected. Brittany was mouthing the words as she started dancing around Santana.

_Because your love your love your love is my drug  
Your love your love your love  
(I said)  
Your love your love your love is my drug  
Your love your love your love_

Won't listen to any advice  
Momma's telling me I should think twice  
But look into my own devices, I'm addicted it's a crisis  
My friends think I've gone crazy  
My judgments gettin' kinda hazy  
My steeze is gonna be affected if I keep it up like a love sick crack head

What you got boy, is hard to find  
I think about it all the time  
I'm all strung out my heart is fried  
I just cant get you off my mind!

Because your love your love your love is my drug  
Your love your love your love  
(I said)  
Your love your love your love is my drug  
Your love your love your love

Brittany stopped dancing around and pulled Santana in and started to sway to the song like it was a slow dance and sang the lyrics into Santana's ear. Santana couldn't hear the difference between the music and Brittany's voice but she honestly didn't care.

_I don't care what people say  
The rush is worth the price I pay  
I get so high when you're with me  
But crash and crave you when you leave_

Hey, so I got a question  
Do you wanna have a slumber party in my basement?  
Do I make your heart beat like an 808 drum  
Is my love your drug?  
Your drug?  
Huh, your drug?  
Huh, your drug?  
Is my love your drug?

Because your love your love your love is my drug  
Your love your love your love  
(I said)  
Your love your love your love is my drug  
Your love your love your love

Because your love your love your love is my drug  
Your love your love your love  
(I said)  
Your love your love your love is my drug  
Your love your love your love

Hey, hey, so  
You love, your love your love, is my drug 

Both girls were out of breath when the music faded into a new song. "Britt, I'm going to go get us some water, I'll meet you back at the table." Brittany smiled and gave Santana a quick kiss before walking toward their table. Santana made her way over to the refreshment table and as she grabbed two bottles of water she heard a very familiar voice behind her.

"So you finally embraced your preference for blondes, huh? Not that I blame you we are a superior breed." Santana smirked, "well I can't take all the credit for that, I had a really cool teacher help me out. She kind of made me realize what I was missing out on."

"Sounds like a pretty amazingly cool woman." Santana turned around so that she was finally facing her substitute teacher, "and so modest too."

"It's part of my charm. But enough about how awesome I am; look at you. First off you look wonderful, red is totally your color and second, that big goofy smile on your face looks good on you as well, you should wear it more often."

"I smile."

"Not like that you don't, I think this smile has to do with a certain blonde bombshell that just got very cozy with you on the dance floor."

"Creeper."

"Hey they asked me to chaperone, which in hindsight was not the best choice because I say as long as clothes are still on its totally appropriate." Santana laughed, "I'm just surprised they let you back in the school."

"I have my ways, now stop stalling and tell me how this whole you being happy with Brittany came to be."

"What do you want to know?"

"Your dating her right?"

"Yep."

"So you came out?"

"I did, well we did." Holly grabbed the teen and hugged her tightly before letting her go. "That's awesome, I knew you would figure it out eventually and here you are with your girlfriend, it's like a lesbian fairytale."

"Yes that's exactly what it is." Santana rolled her eyes and laughed to herself at her teachers weirdness, "but if you'll excuse me my date is thirsty and I don't want her to worry."

"She was worried." Santana turned to see Britt standing behind her. "I thought you got lost so I came to find you. But you not lost your talking to Ms. Holiday which is super cool, but can I get my water from you." Santana handed her one of the bottles, "sorry baby, I'll be back at the table in a second ok." She gave Brittany a quick kiss on the cheek and watched as the blonde walked away.

"You two are so cute it's almost disgusting. Well I won't keep you from you date, but I'm glad to see you both so happy." Holly started to walk away but Santana grabbed her hand and pulled the older woman into another hug. "Thank you for helping me, for helping us. I don't know how to thank you, I just, I suck at words and feelings, but thank you for helping me find the courage to love her no matter who's looking." Holly was truly moved; she never heard anything so beautiful in all her life. She gave the teen a reassuring squeeze and broke away from the hug. "You are very welcome, but you did the hard work, I just sang backup vocals. Now go enjoy your night and your date." Santana smiled and walked away and Holly started to walk back to Will. She sighed and thought to herself that there are some moments as a teacher that make it all worthwhile and tonight was that moment for her.

Santana made it back to the table as the glee performances were about to start and the boys were up first. As much as she hated the song Friday she had to admit the beat was catchy and if nothing else it was a fucking hilarious song. The danced around the floor and she even threw in some fist bumps for good measure. The boys left the stage and rejoined the group. After about 20 minutes Quinn walked up to Santana and Brittany who were currently dancing even though there was technically no music as the song had just ended.

"Have you guys seen Rachel, I can't find her anywhere."

"Sorry Q, we haven't seen her for about ten minutes, maybe she went to the bathroom and the line was hella long." Santana shrugged.

"Or maybe she's up on stage about to sing." Santana and Quinn followed Brittany's gaze to the stage where, sure enough, Rachel was standing talking to Puck. Soon the background music started to play so Rachel took her place on center stage and started to sing.

_Looking back in my life  
Getting past the pain  
Picking up the pieces  
To find a reason to start again  
From the first time that I saw you  
There was something in your eyes  
You knew that I was waiting  
There was nothing for me to hide_

_So many night's I'd spend alone  
I cried myself to sleep  
There was my salvation  
Standing right in front of me_

Rachel locked eyes with Quinn who was standing about six feet from the stage. The girls locked eyes as Rachel went into the chorus. 

_(Rachel and Puck)  
As long as I have a voice  
I'll sing to where ever you are  
Nothing can change a love song  
To tell the world what's inside of my heart  
You have given me back a reason  
To believe a dream can come true  
All that I'd thought I'd lost_

_(Rachel)  
I found in you_

Quinn tried desperately to hide the tears that were streaming down her face. It was all she could do to not run on stage and hug Rachel. She stood there in awe of what Rachel was doing on stage, what the message was behind that song. 

_(Puck)  
Isn't it amazing  
How love never fades  
Surviving time and distance  
You can count on saving grace_

_It's like you've always been there  
Waiting patiently  
I wandered through the shadows  
But somehow I found me  
I understand what made me strong  
The times that I've been through  
Now that love is on my side  
I can face the world with you_

As long as I have a voice  
I'll sing to where ever you are  
Nothing can change a love song  
To tell the world what's inside of my heart  
You have given me back a reason  
To believe our dreams can come true  
All that I'd thought I'd lost  
All that I'd thought I'd lost  
I found in you

When the music faded out and Rachel stopped singing the whole room erupted and Rachel simply smiled and wiped away the tears that had formed in her eyes. Once she had made her way through the crowd and found Quinn she smiled at her girlfriend, "what did you think Quinn; did you like my song selection?" Quinn simply stared at Rachel for a brief moment and just before Rachel was about to start panicking over Quinn's lack of response she pulled Rachel into a very soft and passionate kiss. When she pulled back Rachel had a huge smile on her face.

"It was perfect Rachel, really beautiful."

"You kissed me in public, in front of the whole student body."

"Yeah, I did." Quinn was about to kiss Rachel again when Santana decided to be a bitch and interject, "hey Q, don't look now, but your gay is showing." Quinn flipped her off and kissed Rachel again at the same time and Santana smiled as she went back to Brittany. After the King and Queen had their dance they had time for two more songs. The last song was set to be played and that left the second to last song to Santana to sing. After leaving Brittany with Quinn and Rachel she made her way on stage and put on the hands free mic.

_I can stand with the weight of the world on my shoulders  
I can fight with the toughest of the tough  
I can laugh in the face of all my insecurities  
Anytime, anywhere, anything, I'm strong enough_

Santana walked down the steps of the stage and right to Brittany and held out her hand for Brittany to take. When she did the two started dancing slowly to the beat as Santana continued to sing.

_But when you're holding me like this  
I'm carelessly lost in your touch  
I'm completely defenseless, baby, it's almost too much  
I'm helplessly, hopelessly, recklessly falling in love_

So let consequence do what it will to us, I don't care  
Let the stars stand as witness to it all  
Say the word and tonight I will follow you anywhere  
I just can't pretend anymore, I'm too sturdy to fall

But when you're holding me like this  
I'm carelessly lost in your touch  
I'm completely defenseless, baby, it's almost too much  
I'm helplessly, hopelessly, recklessly falling in love

I am not afraid  
I am not afraid

'Cause when you're holding me like this  
I'm carelessly lost in your touch  
I'm completely defenseless, baby, it's almost too much  
I'm helplessly, hopelessly, recklessly falling  
(Helplessly, hopelessly, recklessly falling)  
I'm helplessly, hopelessly, recklessly falling in love

When the music faded to instrumental and then died off Brittany kissed Santana briefly and then she buried her head into Santana's shoulder and just held onto her girlfriend. They stayed like that until the final song came on and it was a fast pace song so they made their way over to the table with the rest of the club. Everyone decided to leave then and try and beat the crowd. Rachel had permission from her father's to have everyone over for an after prom party so the all made their way to their cars and limos and headed to the Berry's. As the limo pulled away from the school Santana's phone went off and after some digging in her purse she found it and read the text message.

_Will gave me your number and he also told me what happened with Brittany's parents. I'm sorry you had to go through that, but I'm glad you are both safe and happy. Now you have my number, if you need anything do not hesitate to call me, I'm always around. Your song was beautiful and made me tear up, enjoy you night._

_-Holly_

Santana put her phone away and wrapped her arm around Brittany and joined in on the conversation the other girls were having on who had the ugliest dress. The party would be the perfect end to the perfect evening and Santana smiled thinking that she and Brittany really were a lesbian fairytale and if that was true that totally made Holly their fairy godmother.

**Hope this lived up to the expectation everyone had on this chapter. The next few days are going to be busy because I am moving into my apartment so hang in there with me. There has been a drop in reviews and they honestly do make it easier to write and they let me know what I am doing right and wrong so please leave a review even if its short. I'm going to try to update Friday, but the latest should be Monday depending on when they set up my internet.**


	16. Somebody

**Thanks for the reviews for the last chapter everyone and for all the story alerts. The songs from the last chapter were Your Love is My Drug by Ke$ha, I found in you by Sarah Darling and Helplessly, Hopelessly by Jessica Andrews. Hope you enjoy the next chapter.**

The girls settled into Berry's basement and continued gossiping and making small talk. Rachel and Brittany eventually disappeared to go get some snacks for the group leaving Quinn and Santana alone in the basement.

"So you basically came out to the whole school tonight?"

"Yeah, I guess I did."

"How do you feel?"

"Like I'm going to vomit, how did you find the courage to tell the whole school that you and Britt were together?"

"You make it sound like I was never scared of their reactions or that I'm not still terrified of what might happen because of us being out."

"You, scared of something, I thought Santana Lopez wasn't afraid of anything." Quinn laughed, but one look at Santana told her she was dead serious.

"Every time we walk down the hall way I hold her hand a little tighter like I can protect her if I just keep holding onto her. When we are in those halls we aren't safe Quinn; teachers are clueless and high school is like open season on anyone who is different. I'm terrified every time we go anywhere that isn't Glee Club. Walking around school scares me, walking to my car scares me, walking down the street scares me because I know that I'll be holding her hand in each of those moments and the thought of anyone hurting her breaks my heart. But I do, not because I'm brave or courageous. I do it because I love Brittany more than anything in this world and my love for her out weighs my fear. She deserves to be with someone who isn't ashamed to hold her hand or kiss her in public. She deserves the absolute best and no matter what it takes or what it costs me I will make sure she gets it. So to answer your question, I found the courage to come out…in her." Santana had tears streaming down her face was practically shaking she was so worked up and upset, she really was scared. Quinn looked at her friend and was genuinely touched; she never knew Santana could be so deep.

"Is it worth it?" Quinn didn't know where that question came from, but she asked it anyway.

Santana snorted a laugh, "do you love her?"

"With all my heart."

"Then it's worth it. It's worth it because I know that in my heart one day I'll grab Britt and get the hell out of here and go to New York, we'll live in some crappy apartment because we can't afford anything better, we're going to eat pizza and ramen noodles and sleep on a futon until we get better jobs and when we graduate we are going to have a big party at my parents house and in the middle of the party we'll announce to everyone that we're engaged, we'll get married in the winter because she always wanted snow on her wedding day, she'll probably have the first baby because I'll be too scared and we'll buy our dream house and every day for the rest of our lives she will be the last thing I see at night and the first thing I see in the morning and knowing that, all this high school BS is totally worth it. All our dreams are going to come true Quinn, and because of that it is most certainly worth it." Quinn grabbed her friend and hugged her tightly while the two of them stood there with tears running down their faces.

When Brittany and Rachel returned, Brittany flew to Santana and started questioning why she was crying. "I'm ok Britt, just talking about the future and how scary and cool it's going to be." Brittany smiled and kissed Santana on the forehead, "scary awesome." Brittany was familiar with this side of Santana and knew it was best to let her ride out whatever she was feeling and then they would talk about it later. Once they settled back down they popped in a movie and snuggled into each other and into the couches. When the movie was over all the girls were still dressed in their formal gowns, Brittany was asleep and so was Rachel, Quinn looked like she was out cold as well and after Santana shut off the TV she snuggled back into Brittany and whispered in her girlfriends ear, "you are the closest I will ever come to magic, I love you." As she fell asleep Santana had no idea that Quinn had heard her goodnight to Brittany and once again the blonde was pleasantly surprised with how deep Santana could be when she wanted to be. When they woke up the next morning or afternoon as it was they all quickly showered and changed into regular clothes.

As they got ready to leave Rachel's house Brittany pulled her aside, "Rach I have an idea for Glee club, for Nationals and how we can prepare for it."

"B lets go, I want to do something productive today." Santana shouted from the car. Brittany looked back at Rachel, "I'll call you later ok?" She hoped in the car and the two cheerleaders drove off.

The next day Brittany was glad that the girls were all in the choir room before practice started, "ok so I told Rachel I had this idea for a song to help us practice to Nationals and maybe if we really do a good job we can perform it at the competition." Brittany passed out sheet music and a huge smile played across all the girls' faces and they started planning their performance. They used the time Mr. Shue gave them in glee club to practice their number and by the end of the week they were ready to showcase their hard work.

"Ok everyone, this week I wanted you all to come up with a possible number for nationals, is there anyone who wants to go first."

Brittany shot her hand up, "Mr. Shue all the girls got together and put together a number that we would like to perform." Mr. Shue sat down and the girls stood up and took their places in the front of the room. Brittany explained their song choice, "we've all talked about how we all want to succeed and become famous and important and show all those people who said we weren't good enough that we are awesome people. I know that what we are facing is scary, but we think this song sends the message that if we go for it and work together we will show everyone that we are already important people because we have each other."

(Brittany)

Can you see me?  
Cause I'm right here  
Can you listen?  
Cause I've been trying to make you notice

Brittany picked up an electric guitar and threw it over her shoulder. Santana didn't know what she was doing, Brittany couldn't play the guitar, could she?

What it would mean to me  
To feel like somebody  
We've been on our way to nowhere  
Tryin so hard to get there 

As the chorus started Brittany started to play the guitar along with the band.

_[Chorus:]_  
And I say  
Oh!  
We're gonna let it show!  
We're gonna just let go of everything  
Holding back our dreams  
And try  
To make it come alive  
C'mon let it shine so they can see  
We were meant to be

Somebody (Somebody)  
Somebody, yeah (Somebody)  
Somehow  
Someday  
Someway  
Somebody

(Rachel and Mercedes)  
I'm so tired  
Of being invisible  
But I feel it, yeah  
Like a fire below the surface

(Tina and Quinn)  
Trying to set me free  
Burnin' inside of me  
Cause were standing on the edge now  
It's a long way down

_[Chorus:]_  
But I say  
Oh!  
We're gonna let it show!  
We're gonna just let go of everything  
Holding back our dreams  
And try  
To make it come alive  
C'mon let it shine so they can see  
We were meant to be  
Somebody (Somebody)  
Somebody, yeah (Somebody)  
Somehow  
Someday  
Someway  
Somebody

Santana walked around to Brittany and gave her a quick kiss on the cheek before singing.

(Santana)  
We will walk out of this darkness  
Feel the spotlight glowing like a yellow sun  
Ohohohohoh (Ohohohohoh)

(Santana and Brittany)  
And when we fall we fall together  
Till we get back up and we will rise as one  
Ohohohohoh

_[Chorus:]_  
Oh!  
We're gonna let it show!  
We're gonna just let go of everything  
Holding back our dreams  
And try  
To make it come alive  
C'mon let it shine so they can see  
We were meant to be  
Somebody (Somebody)  
Somebody, yeah (Somebody)  
Somehow  
Someday  
Someway  
Somebody  
Somebody  
Ooo Oh

The music faded out and the boys all clapped and Mr. Shue stood up and went up to the girls. "Ladies that was a fantastic performance and I think it's safe to say we found one of our songs for Nationals." The boys all clapped and whistled in agreement and the girls all looked thrilled. As they took their seats Santana whispered in Brittany's ear, "since when do you play the guitar?"

"My cousin lefts her's at the house on year after Christmas and so I picked it up and learned."

"You never stop amazing me." The girls turned their attention back to Mr. Shue and his plans for the competition.

**So the next few chapters will probably be Nationals or the practice for it, do you want them to win or lose? The song in this chapter is Somebody from the Lemonade Mouth movie on Disney channel, I thought it fit well here. Review and tell me what you all want to see.**


	17. New York, New York

**Sorry for the delay people, I didn't hear back from anyone saying what they wanted in the ways of an ending for this chapter so I did what I want…Enjoy.**

The flight to New York was uneventful and calm and almost every single member of New Directions slept through the flight. The night before they left they were all finished packed and they tried to sleep, but the excitement got the better of them. Quinn and Rachel slept over at Santana's house so that they could car pool to the airport. They all lied awake in the living room trying hard to sleep, but instead spent the whole time talking about their upcoming trip. By the time the wheels were off the ground most of the teens had already fallen asleep. They were enjoying the fact that they had gotten first class seats thanks to Sue's connections. The group paired off, mostly into couples sitting next to each other, leaving a few people to sit next to friends. Brittany and Santana were fast asleep cuddled up in each other, sharing a blanket between them and using each other as pillows. When the flight staff came around with drinks the two cheerleaders continued to sleep soundly. Everyone took a few pictures because it really was adorable. Eventually Santana woke up and shifted so that she was sitting, but that Brittany was still resting against her sleeping away. Santana flipped through the book she had brought when Brittany finally stirred awake.

"Hey sleepyhead, feel better after that nap."

"Much, when do we land I'm getting super hungry?"

"Soon Brit Brit, when we get settled we'll go round up some dinner." They landed half an hour later and when they finally arrived at the hotel Mr. Shue checked the group in while they waited in the lobby. When he walked back over to them he handed out the room keys.

"Listen guys I was trying to figure out how to split you all up into two rooms, the lady at the front desk mentioned that some choirs have been splitting the rooms according to sexual orientation." Santana, Quinn, Brittany, Rachel and Kurt all turned a funny color. "But that would put way too many of you in one room and I'm not really in the mood to get a call from the ACLU." Everyone looked to Rachel who seemed very proud of the fact that everyone saw her as the tie to the civil rights group. "Just do Boys and Girls, but conditions are, curfew is at 10pm and couples don't share beds."

"Mr. Shue that's crap." Santana wasn't happy, neither was Quinn.

"Santana be reasonable, you and Brittany can't share a bed, but you'll be in the same room with each other."

"Great Mr. Shue, that's like second place and I just love that. This is such bullshit." Santana grabbed her and Brittany's bag and headed to the elevators and slammed the up button.

Brittany silently followed her girlfriend and tried to calm her down. When everyone got their stuff in the rooms she grabbed Santana and took off down the street to find some dinner for the group. They finally stopped in a pizza place and ordered a few different kinds to bring back with them. As they waited for their order they walked up and down the street, hands tightly held, taking in the sights. When they walked by a huge fountain Brittany ran over and started to talk to the ducks that were settled in the water. Santana watched Brittany run around and was only snapped back into reality when she heard someone behind her say something. She turned around and there was a woman who must have been in her thirties, pushing a baby carriage.

"What did you say?"

"Your girlfriend seems to be enjoying New York, is it your first time here?"

"Oh, yeah, our choir is here for a competition, we've never been outside of Ohio."

"Ohio, wow this is a change of scenery for you guys. Well, good luck with your choir show and by the way you two make the absolutely cutest couple."

"How'd you know that….?" Santana trailed off.

"We live about three blocks that way and when we were walking to the park I saw you walking and holding hands, you looked like you having an awful lot of fun just being able to do that."

"Ohio isn't exactly liberal central, I can hold her hand, but we have to be on guard all the time, here I could hold her hand and no one cares, hell I could have my tongue down her throat and people would continue to walk by." Santana smiled.

"People here generally are too wrapped up in themselves to care about what you do. The freedom is nice, especially if you don't have it at home." Their conversation was broken when Brittany ran over to the two talking women. "San, the guy said our pizzas should be ready by now, let's go I'm super hungry."

"Ok Britt, I'll be right there." Brittany went back over to the fountain and Santana turned to the woman. "I should go; our friends are probably worried about us. One thing before I leave, you have a cross around your neck, how come you haven't tried to save my soul or tell me God hates me or anything like that?" The woman laughed. "Not all religious people are hateful and besides nothing that I am seeing here would make God mad, I think quite the opposite. Also when I got married I reevaluated my views on religion; I still believe in God, but I know that he loves everyone. That is what we teach our children and that is what my wife and I firmly believe in."

Santana wasn't sure why she was shocked, but she stood there looking very surprised. "You better get back to your girlfriend before she leaves without you. If you need anything while you guys are here, here's my card. Good luck with your competition." The woman handed Santana her card and walked away. The girls picked up the pizzas and went back to the hotel where everyone quickly ate up the pizzas. People planned out who got what bed; Santana said she was going to sleep on the floor and Quinn followed her lead, both of them insisting that their girlfriends sleep in the beds. Brittany finally agreed so she was sharing with Tina, while Rachel shared with Mercedes, leaving Lauren to sleep on the pull out couch. The girls all showered and got ready for bed, they threw on a movie and by the end of it Brittany, Santana, Quinn and Rachel were all dead asleep. Mr. Shue came around to check on everyone at 10, as he walked into the room he looked at the sleeping girls with a confused look on his face.

"I thought I told them that they couldn't sleep together."

"To be fair Mr. Shue, you told them they couldn't share a bed, Santana and Quinn are on the floor." Will looked at the girls again thinking that those positions could not be comfortable. Rachel's arm was hanging off the bed resting on Quinn's shoulder and Quinn had her hand resting on top of it while Santana and Brittany were sleeping the same way they do when Brittany had nightmares.

Mercedes broke the silence, "Mr. Shue for what it's worth they just wanted to be close to each other, besides, ever since she got kicked out Brittany doesn't sleep well in strange beds, that is why Santana was so mad." Will looked at the two sleeping teens before walking back toward the door, before he shut the door he turned to Mercedes, "tell them that for the rest of the time we are here they can share a bed as long as you guys have no objections and I will look the other way. Goodnight ladies."

**I decided to split this up into two parts so I will put the actual competition on the chapter so if you want to read it review.**


	18. The Edge of Glory

**Thank you guys so much for the kind reviews, they honestly make my day and make me want to get the next chapter out there sooner. Here is part 2 of New York and Nationals, Enjoy.**

The next morning Santana was the first one awake in the girls room. She quickly threw on her clothes for the day and went downstairs to get some food. She found her way over the area where the hotel breakfast was set up. She grabbed a cup of coffee for herself and sat down at an empty two seat table. One of the waiters came over and Santana ordered two orders of scrambled eggs, extra bacon and wheat toast. She leaned her head against the table when the waiter walked away; she was exhausted, Brittany wasn't the only one who didn't sleep well in strange places.

"You look like hell." Santana looked up to see Mr. Shue standing next to her holding his coffee in one hand and a pile of papers in the other.

"Thanks Mr. Shue, you know just what to say to boost a young lady's confidence."

"I mean it looks like you didn't get much sleep."

"Yeah well, the floor is wicked uncomfortable and every time Brittany moved I woke up thinking she was having a nightmare, so you will have to excuse my appearance. God invented make up and coffee for a reason." Will sat down in the free chair before Santana could protest.

"Why didn't you just tell me why you wanted to share a bed with Brittany?"

"You didn't give me the chance; you automatically assumed it was because we wanted to have sex, so your mind was made up. Me telling you that she has nightmares would have sounded like a damn lie, but is the truth."

"I really am sorry Santana. You two can share a bed for the rest of our time here, just keep it PG ok."

"Deal. Did you finalize the set list?"

"Just printed them off just now." He handed Santana a piece of paper and she quickly read it.

"This is awesome Mr. Shue, but I think for the big group number, we should be making a statement you know."

"Like what."

"Mr. Shue, this year has been crazy and depressing and beautiful and whatever happens next year is totally up in the air. We are on the edge of something completely terrifying and amazing and awesome and that should come through in that song. I'm not insisting you change it, just think about it before practice." At that moment her food showed up and the table in two boxes.

"I got to get this back up to Britt Mr. Shue." She stood and checked inside both boxes and smiled as she put them back in the bag.

"They get your order wrong?"

"Nope Britt always gets the scrambled eggs and bacon and so do I."

"That's cute, you guys like the same breakfast."

"Nope, I hate scrambled eggs, I like mine over easy."

"Then why do you order them like that?"

"Because Brittany gets upset when she sees over easy eggs because she think the baby chick in still in the egg, so to keep her from getting upset I eat them her way. I'm going to get this upstairs before it gets cold, see you in a few Mr. Shue." Santana grabbed her coffee and walked away from her teacher who all of a sudden had an idea for their group song. Santana made it back upstairs and everyone was awake. Kurt had come into their room and was doing Brittany's nails while the rest of them got ready.

"Britt Britt I got you some food."

"Thanks Santana the rest of us weren't hungry." Quinn pouted from the other side of the room.

"Untwist your panties Q, here." Santana handed Quinn the extra order of bacon. "Don't say I never gave you nothing."

"Softie."

"Britt eat while it's still hot."

"But my nails are wet." Santana shrugged and sat down next to Brittany with both boxes of food and after biting into her she fed Brittany a fork full of her own. Under his breath Kurt made a whipping noise which earned him and glare from Santana. They finished eating and getting ready and eventually headed downstairs to meet up for practice. Their cabs took them to the theater where they would be performing; each group had an hour on stage to block their songs, after that they were on their own for practicing.

When New Directions took the stage Will started passing around the music. "Ok everyone, so it's exactly what we talked about before we left home with one change. Santana and Brittany will have the duet and the group number will be group harmony, four part if we can manage it. And I changed the group number because after talking to Santana I realized we needed a song that made a statement about what you all have been through this year." The kids looked over the music and agreed this new song was more their style. They worked quickly and blocked their songs before heading back to the hotel. The group practiced all their songs one more time before breaking for the evening. After they all grabbed dinner they split into groups and went off to explore and enjoy the city. Pretty much everyone minus Artie, Finn, Puck and Sam hit up some stores. After a little retail therapy they all decided to take a walk through central park before going back to the hotel, it was still pretty light out and they had to head back that way anyway.

The group stopped to sit for a moment and Brittany took this opportunity to wonder over to a small pond and start talking to the ducks. Santana was watching her when behind her she heard Kurt freaking out about something. Making sure she could still see Brittany, she ran over to see what was wrong.

"Kurt, what in the hell is wrong with you?" Kurt had tears in his eyes and so did Rachel as he handed Santana his phone which was set to a radio station and she listened.

"If you are just now tuning in to our broadcast then listen carefully because this is big news people. For all you NY natives or NY lovers, the wait is over and the hard work of millions has finally paid off, tonight the NY Senate voted and in a 33-29 vote in favor of, same sex marriage is now legal in New York. So get out there everyone, celebrate, remember those who fought before you, be thankful, tell someone you love them, ask that special someone that question you have been holding onto for years or simply hold tight to someone you love. Well done NY, well done, now hit the streets and live it up." The music started up after that, but Santana wasn't focusing on that anymore, her mind was racing; she could get married in the state she was standing in, well once she was of age she could. She turned to see Brittany still playing near the pond with the ducks and with a few tears running down her face she smiled when Brittany looked up and met her gaze. She threw the phone back to Kurt and ran over to Brittany and scooped her into her arms.

"We can get married Brittany."

"Of course we can silly."

"No Brittany, it is legal in this state for us to get married now, they just voted on it and we fucking won baby." The group started out of the park to hit the streets to celebrate. Brittany reached over and grabbed Santana's hand and she then broke the stunned silence, "so San we're going to get married?" Everyone waited for an answer and it didn't take long.

"Yeah Britt, we are, one day we are going to come back here and get married ok, but let's finish high school first, okay?" Brittany nodded and snuggled closer to Santana as they walked. They danced in the streets until they knew they need to get back to the hotel, but on the way back they made one quick stop. When they stood outside of the building Brittany looked confused, "Sanny why are we here?"

"Brittany this is where the Stonewall riots started; cops dragged people out of this bar and arrested them just because they were gay." Brittany pulled Santana closer, "are they going to arrest us?"

"No baby, they can't do that anymore, we're safe. We came here because what started that night became a huge fight for equal rights and tonight same sex marriage was legal and it's because of people who fought here that you and I can hold hands right now and kiss without being attacked." Brittany hugged Santana, "thank you for bringing me here." They stayed like that, foreheads barely touching and Quinn took a picture of them like that in front of the Stonewall Inn. The hailed a cab and made it back to the hotel just as their curfew started. They passed Mr. Shue as they entered their room and Brittany ran up to the man looking super happy, "Mr. Shue, guess what?"

"What Brittany?"

"Santana and I can get married in NY now." Will smiled, "I heard about that Brittany, it's really amazing news, maybe one day every state will do the same thing. Get some sleep everyone, big day tomorrow." The girls got into their room and after showering everyone collapsed into their beds, no more sleeping on the floor for the couples; Rachel and Quinn got one bed and Santana and Brittany got the other. Tina and Mercedes gladly gave up their spots for the couch pull out and Lauren insisted that her back was fucked up anyway so sleeping on the floor was just fine. Within seconds they were all passed out, exhausted from the day they had all had.

Their alarms all went off the next morning and no one really wanted to wake up, but today was their big day. After they got into their outfits they made their way to the theater. They sat through endlessly boring performances until they were on deck. They set up for their opening number and soon they heard their group being announced and then the moment of truth came with curtain up. The only people on stage to begin the song was Artie, Rachel, Finn and Mercedes. The music started and so did they.

(Artie)

There ain't no reason you and me should be alone  
Tonight, yeah, baby! (Tonight, yeah, baby!)

(Rachel)  
And I got a reason that you're who should take me home tonight (Tonight)  
I need a man that thinks it's right when it's so wrong  
Tonight, yeah, baby! (Tonight, yeah, baby!)

(Finn)  
Right on the limits where we know we both belong tonight  
(Mercedes)  
It's hard to feel the rush, to brush the dangerous  
I'm gonna run right to, to the edge with you  
Where we can both fall far in love

The rest of the crew came out from the wings and joined in one the singing and started up their chorography.

I'm on the edge of glory, and I'm hanging on a moment of truth  
Out on the edge of glory, and I'm hanging on a moment with you  
I'm on the edge, the edge, the edge, the edge, the edge, the edge, the edge,  
I'm on the edge of glory, and I'm hanging on a moment with you  
I'm on the edge with you.

Another shot before we kiss the other side  
Tonight, yeah, baby! (Tonight, yeah, baby!)  
I'm on the edge of something final we call life tonight  
(Alright! Alright!)  
Put on your shades, 'cause I'll be dancing in the flames  
Tonight, yeah, baby! (Tonight, yeah, baby!)  
It isn't hell if everybody knows my name tonight  
(Alright! Alright!)

It's hard to feel the rush, to brush the dangerous  
I'm gonna run right to, to the edge with you  
Where we can both fall far in love

I'm on the edge of glory, and I'm hanging on a moment of truth  
Out on the edge of glory, and I'm hanging on a moment with you  
I'm on the edge, the edge, the edge, the edge, the edge, the edge, the edge,  
I'm on the edge of glory, and I'm hanging on a moment with you  
I'm on the edge with you.

I'm on the edge with you  
I'm on the edge with you  
(You, you, you...)

I'm on the edge of glory, and I'm hanging on a moment of truth  
I'm on the edge of glory, and I'm hanging on a moment with you  
I'm on the edge, the edge, the edge, the edge, the edge, the edge, the edge,  
I'm on the edge of glory, and I'm hanging on a moment with you  
I'm on the edge with you (with you, with you, with you, with you, with you)

The crowd went nuts, but slowly calmed down as the music changed to softer music for the duet. Most of the club fell in formation behind Santana as she stated in on the song.

(Santana)

Never knew I could feel like this  
Like I've never seen the sky before  
Want to vanish inside your kiss  
Every day I love you more and more

Brittany walked on stage from her hiding place off stage in the wings and walked straight to Santana. Santna took her hand and put it over her won heart.

Listen to my heart, can you hear it sing?  
Telling me to give you everything  
Seasons may change, winter to spring  
But I love you until the end of time

Come what may  
Come what may  
I will love you until my dying day

(Brittany)  
Suddenly the world seems such a perfect place  
Suddenly it moves with such a perfect grace  
Suddenly my life doesn't seem such a waste  
It all revolves around you

(Both)  
And there's no mountain too high  
No river too wide  
Sing out this song and I'll be there by your side  
Storm clouds may gather,  
And stars may collide  
But I love you (I love you)  
Until the end of time(until the end of time)

Come what may  
Come what may  
I will love you until my dying day 

As they looked at each other tears were running down their cheeks as the stepped toward each other, almost touching.

Oh, come what may, come what may  
I will love you, Oh I will love you  
Suddenly the world seems such a perfect place

The rest of the club joined in with backup vocals.

Come what may  
Come what may  
I will love you until my dying day

Santana grabbed hold of Brittany and pulled her in close and as the last note died they kissed. While the audience could have been surprised by the female duet and kiss, they were on their feet going wild, so no one seemed to mind that much. When they checked the results Mr. Shue didn't look happy. They hadn't placed, no one was sure why or what could have been done differently, but everyone was pretty upset. When they were back at the hotel Santana excused herself to make a phone call and when she came back she didn't look upset anymore.

"Britt you remember that woman in the park that gave me her card, well I called her to thank her and turns out she is a radio DJ and she felts bad that we got robbed at Nationals so she told me to email her our original songs and she would try to get them played." Everyone was listening to Santana now and she frantically turned the radio dial on the alarm clock. When she stopped playing with it the song that came from the machine was undeniable, it was the recording of Get It Right and Loser Like Me.

"The way I figure it Vocal Adrenaline can kiss our asses, if they win fine, they win, but we are on a syndicated radio show." And for the first time, second place didn't seem like such a bad place to be.

**So yes I made them loose, because, well they lost on the show so I figured what the hell. Review for the next chapter when they come home and as a side note I'm so happy about NY, another state I can one day get married in.**


	19. First Time For Everything

**So I'm going to warn you all in advance the next few chapters are going to have angst and please don't hate me but there will be some violence on the school grounds, but I promise no major character death, roll with me I promise I will not disappoint. And as another side note I realize that it is pretty common to make Jacob the bad guy in these situations, but I wanted to change it up and use a character that I created, so hopefully you all don't mind.**

They had been back from New York and back at school for about a week. The end of the school year was fast approaching and there was only two more weeks left of school so all the students we simply bidding their time until summer came along. The glee club students were in the same boat and with their competitive year over they only had one more glee meeting left to look forward to. This particular morning was no different from any other before it; Santana went to her classes in the morning, Brittany followed her to the classes they shared and would only leave her when they had to go to separate classrooms.

No one thought that this morning was any different from the one before, but while students and teachers filed in and out of classrooms one student stood in the corner and watched. Every school has that kid that stands in the corner of the room and says nothing, the students that is literally a wallflower, the social outcast. At McKinley that student was Marc Sanders. He was quiet, average student, never spoke much, didn't have any friends to speak of and didn't participate in afterschool activities (even Jacob had that stupid blog of his). Point being when you spend your time on the outside of the high school popularity pool it gives you a lot of things and people to be angry at; teachers for not protecting you, students for not caring enough, jocks and popular kids for having the life you want and anyone who ever made fun of you. When the bell signaling the end of lunch sounded Marc reached into his locker a shoved something into his backpack and as he walked down the hallway no one had any idea that that something was at .38mm gun.

Marc walked into the gym for his PE class and scanned the room; some kids were playing basketball and most of the girls were standing around talking to each other. All of a sudden Marc felt a sharp, familiar pain on the side of his head; someone had thrown a basketball at his head. When he looked he saw one of the boys that had been playing basketball with a stupid grin on his face.

"Sorry Marc, slippery hands." The boy and his friends started laughing as Marc turned to look them right in the eye, turning very red in the in the process.

"Watch out Jake, the freak looks like he's getting angry. What are you going to do, huh Marc, you gonna go home and cry to mommy?" Again the jocks all started laughing and before they could register what was happening Marc pulled the gun from the waist band of his shorts and held it out, pointing it directly at them.

"No I'm gonna kill you." The jocks fell dead silent and that silence was only broken by the distinct sound of a gun being fired. The rest of the students paused for a brief moment before absolute hell broke loose in the gym. The other jocks looked down to see their friend who was lying at the feet bleeding profusely. Everyone turned to run; the girls all cut through the locker room and locked the door behind them, the jocks broke for the double doors that led to the parking lot, but Marc squeezed off another shot and took another one down before they could escape. With the gym empty and knowing that the survivors had no doubted called the office and probably the police Marc walked out of the gym and into the hallway knowing that he had very little time before the school would be surrounded by police and SWAT members.

Before the front office could put the school on lockdown the bell rang and the entire student body emptied out into the hallway unaware of the danger they were in, but it didn't take them long to figure it out. Santana was gathering her things and was still walking out of the classroom when she heard a sound that she had heard many times before at the firing range. She saw students running in every direction, trying to make it outside and when the stampede of students had died down she looked down the hallway and saw a body on the floor, but no gunman. Quickly, Santana walked over to the body and saw a familiar uniform with a large blood stain that was spreading, she knew the girl from Cheerios. Santana wanted to cry, she wanted to panic, but she knew she didn't have time to do either, she had to make sure Brittany was ok and that the rest of the club had gotten out of the school. She quickly ducked into an empty classroom and pulled out her phone and texted Brittany, Quinn and everyone else in the group. Kurt was the first to respond:

'Brittany, Tina, Mercedes and I are all still stuck in the home ec room, we were finishing a project when the gunshots went off. Are you ok, where are you?' Santana quickly called Kurt and the boy picked up on the first ring, "Santana where are you?"

"I'm in the Art Room, are you guys ok, is Brittany alright?"

"She's fine, we are all ok for right now, what the hell is going on?"

"I wish I knew, all I know is that one girl is dead in the hallway I have no idea where the gunman went." She could hear Brittany crying in the backround, "Kurt put her on the phone."

"San?"

"Brittany, listen to me ok. You are going to be fine, no one is going to hurt you or anyone in there ok, I won't let them, but you have to be strong baby and focus alright. Can you do that for me?"

"Yeah."

"Ok, now put me on speaker phone." Brittany hit the button and everyone listened in. "Ok guys we have to make sure our people our out and then we need to get the hell out of here or at least find better places to hide. For right now turn off the lights and get underneath the tables and stay quiet, if whoever is doing this comes in just do what they say ok, no playing the hero. As soon as I figure out a way I will come to you guys ok, just sit tight." Santana hung up and threw her phone in her pocket and looked outside again; still no one in the hallway. The classroom they were in was all the way down the hall so Santana had to be careful. She quickly ran to the end of the hall way and using her compact mirror to see around the corner she turned and made her way to the classroom just as she heard footsteps. She dove into the classroom and before anyone could make a sound she covered Brittany's mouth with one hand and Kurt's with the other.

"It's just me guys chill and shut up." They stood perfectly still, almost afraid to breathe, they heard the footsteps pass them and while they were still on the floor Santana pulled her phone out to see that Quinn had texted her saying that she, Rachel and Lauren were in Mr. Shue's office with him.

"Quinn, Rachel, Lauren and Mr. Shue are all clear in his office, that leaves Finn, Sam, Mike, Artie and Puck."

"Artie went home early for an appointment." Tina pointed out.

"And Sam is out sick." Mercedes offered.

"That still leaves Finn, Mike and Puck.

Kurt held up his phone, "Finn said that he Mike and Puck are in the weight room."

"Tell them to stay there until I say move and tell them to pick up a dumb bell in case the need to defend themselves." Santana paused and tried to figure out what to do. "We have to get to the choir room."

"Santana we can't, there is someone out there killing people we are safer here." Brittany looked like she was about to cry again, they all did.

"Britt, this guy or girl or whoever it is going to start going room by room looking for people, if we stay here he will eventually find us, our best bet is to move and stay in the choir room were at least we are together. Plus, Mr. Shue's office is part of the old building so his windows are not reinforced. So if we can make it to the choir room, we can go into his office and break the window to get out."

No one knew what to say, it was a good plan, but it had one glaring hole, the choir room was down the hallway and on the other side of the gym.

"We have to move fast and quietly ok and if we get caught just play along, but if I say run you run, ok?" They all nodded except Brittany, "Britt, baby its gonna be ok just promise me if I tell you to, you will run."

"I'll run if you say so,"

"Good, now we go down the hall two at a time ok and I'll follow behind." Santana stood up and opened the door and after scanning the hall she waved to Tina and Mercedes to go, Kurt followed with Brittany and Santana ran after them. They got to the corner of the other hallway and repeated this, but as Santana turned to follow Brittany something stopped her. She turned to see a young boy she never met before holding a gun in his right hand and for the first time in her life Santana Lopez didn't know what to do.

**I know, I know, I suck with the cliffhanger, but its 3am and I am tired. I know it's a lot to handle but I promise no major character death and I do know where I am going with this, so please stay with me and review if you want the next chapter.**


	20. The Gun Goes Bang Bang

**I know everyone is slightly pissed at me for leaving it where I did, but I will make it right. Be forewarned you may hate again before this story ends but happy endings are my things and so are sequels so stick with me. The whole school shooting bit will probably be two more chapters and then the aftermath so I'd say we are look at 6-8 more chapters of this story and then I have the first half of the sequel already written so keep on reviewing.**

Santana stood there, literally frozen in place. Running was out of the question, there was no outrunning a bullet so standing there was her only real option. Normally Santana Lopez was not the kind of girl to beg, but even the proudest person can be humbled when they are staring at the business end of a gun.

"Look, I'll give you whatever you want, do anything you want just please don't kill me."

Marc just looked at her for a while before speaking, "where were you running too, you and your friends?"

"We…we were trying to find out if our friends made it out."

"You didn't answer my question."

"We were going to look for them in the choir room." She could have lied, but she was pretty sure lying in this situation was a bad idea. Marc walked over to her and grabbed her by the shoulder pushing her forward, "don't let me stop you." Santana started walking forward slowly at first, but feeling the barrel of the gun pressed into her back made her speed up a little. As she turned the corner and approached the choir room door she silently hoped that the rest of them had found Mr. Shue and had gotten out, but as she reached for the door handle she could see that there were still people inside the classroom. She paused before she opened the door; she knew that if she opened that door she was risking the lives of her team, her girlfriend and her teacher, but she didn't have much of a choice.

"Open the door." Marc command and pushed the gun further into her back.

"No, I won't let you hurt them." Suddenly the gun wasn't at her back anymore, instead it was striking her across the face. "Let's try that again, open the damn door or I kill you right here. Ignoring the fact that blood was pouring slowing out of the wound on her face, Santana slowly pulled the door open and before she could say anything Marc kicked her so that she went flying forward and fell to the ground. When she looked up she saw the faces of every member of New Directions; so much for them getting out. Apparently Finn, Puck and Mike didn't listen when she said to stay put because they were there too. Brittany moved to pick Santana off the floor only to have the gun pointed her way. Kurt grabbed her hand and pulled her back and motioned for her to sit down.

"Listen people, I honestly do not want to hurt any of you, well most of you anyway." He shot a glare towards the boys who still had their football jerseys on. It became painfully obvious to Santana that this kid was going after athletes. She figured if they were going to die, she wasn't going to sit there and wait for someone else to do something.

"What's your name?"

"What do you care?"

"Your holding me and my friends at gun point, I'd like to know the name of the guy that wants to kill me."

"Marc."

"What do want Marc and better yet what makes you think we can give it to you?"

"Santana Lopez, Junior, former Cheerio, dating one of the blonde chicks over there, what makes you think I want something that is tangible? Have you turned on the news lately or read a paper, school shootings commonly happen for one reason; revenge."

"You're only killing jocks right, athletic type people, why, what did they do to you?" Santana was searching her brain for a plan, any plan, but the only thing that came to mind was the TV shows she had watched that had hostage situations so she went with that; what other choice did she have.

"Same thing they do to everyone else. The bullying, slushies, name calling, physical abuse, I could go on for days. They all think that because they can throw or catch a damn ball that they are something special, well today I'm something special and they are all dead meat."

"I get it ok, ever since Britt and I came out people treat us differently."

"Don't, don't pretend like you and I are kindred spirits, the fact that you were at one point a cheerleader makes whatever you are going through better then what they have done to me. Funny thing is almost everyone is this room is on my list; the boys are almost all on the football team, the rest of you used to be cheerleaders. I could just line you up and shoot you like bottles of a fence." It was at the moment that Santana realized that if they made it out of the room alive, it would be a damn miracle.

"Tina's not a jock or a cheerleader or anything, never was, please let her go." Santana figured one of them out was better than them all stuck there.

Marc looked at all of them, "fine she can go, but that's it." Santana got up off the floor and grabbed Tina and pushed her toward the door and whispered, "run fast and do not look back, at least one dead in the north hallway, tell them they can get a visual from the roof of the cafeteria and can snake a camera through the old vents, Mr. Shue's office phone extension is 36 and for the love of God, tell them to hurry the fuck up, I can only talk to him for so long before he gets trigger happy. Tell our parents we are ok and we love them ok." Tina just nodded and opened the door and ran for the front doors of the school.

By then of course the school was surrounded by a perimeter of police and SWAT members trying to plan their next move. Parents and students were everywhere, trying to get answers and give the police the information they had. Tina came running out the front door and was grabbed by a SWAT team member who brought her over to the command post and after clearing her went to go get his commanding officer.

Tina was practically shaking when she saw a woman sit down in the chair across from her, "Hi Tina, my name Lt. Wilcox, can you tell me what is happening in there." Tina repeated everything that Santana had told her to say.

"Please you have to help them, he's going to kill them."

"We're going to make sure that doesn't happen ok, now I'm going to have the paramedics check you out and I'm going to go help your friends." The Lt. stood up and grabbed her walkie talkie, "I need sniper team one to set up a nest on the roof of the south facing building, get me a snake camera and have SWAT team two line up underneath the nest, we might have to break windows to get them out."

Back inside Santana eyed Marc carefully, he was getting anxious and anxious people with guns never make a good combination.

"Dude, just let the ladies go and we can fight this out like men." Puck would be the person to poke the bear.

"I think a better idea would be to shoot them first, that way you can all see your girlfriends die one by one before you join them. I like my idea better don't you?" He pointed the gun at Quinn and before anyone had any time to react he squeezed the trigger. The screams and cries echoed in Quinn's ears; she expected to feel pain; getting shot hurt right. But she didn't feel anything, no wait she did, someone was on top of her. When she finally opened her eyes her heart sank into her stomach; someone had pushed her out of the way at the last possible second and had effectively taken the bullet for her before falling on top of her on the ground. That person was Brittany.

"You bastard, if she dies I will come after you." Puck was holding Santana back because at this point no one knew what was going to happen and he didn't want her getting shot for helping Brittany. Quinn rolled Brittany over and found the entry wound in her side, just below her rib cage. Mr. Shue took her jacket off and held it to the wound trying to slow the bleeding.

"Marc she will die if we leave her here, please let us take her out to get her help."

"No I'm in charge, no one leaves, you can all watch her fucking die for all I care." Santana broke loose of Puck and went over to where Brittany was on the floor.

"Britt, baby, look at me, we're going to help you and get you out of here ok."

"Is Quinn ok?" Santana almost smiled, even when she was hurt Brittany still cared more about someone else's safety. "Yeah, honey she's ok, you saved her. Britt, just keep talking to me ok, stay awake."

"It hurts Santana."

"I know it does baby, but you just have to hold on and we are going to get you out of here." Santana looked back at Marc, "look I can get you money, a way out of here anything you fucking want just please don't let her die."

"I want nothing from you."

"Then you might was well shoot me now, because if she dies I have no reason to still be here."

"Your time will come, in time."

"You stupid, punk…" Another shot rang out, but Santana found herself on the floor much like Quinn did, no gunshot wound. Santana looked down at her feet and even though she was on the floor Brittany had wrapped her leg around Santana's foot and had basically tripped her, causing her to fall before the bullet got to her.

Outside the police were scrambling trying to find a way to get in or at least get eyes up in the school. Tina was yelling at anyone with a badge, "Two gunshots and you all are standing here doing nothing why?"

"Miss, we have to clear the school one room at a time."

"Why, I told you what fucking room they are in, go help them, they could be hurt or worse." Tina looked around for anyone else to talk to and in the crowd of people behind the police tape she spotted Kurt and Finn's parents standing next to Santana's mother. She ran over to them and started to cry the minute Angela reached out to comfort her.

"They are inside and they were ok when I left them and Santana said to say that they all loved you guys, I shouldn't have left them alone."

"Honey you got out alive and gave the police valuable information. It's going to be ok." Angela didn't know if that was true, but she had to believe in the best possible outcome.

Lt. Wilcox spoke briefly with the parents when a call came in on her radio, "Central command we have eyes on the target location, we have ten hostages, one gun man. There appears to be injured girl lying on the floor."

"Sniper team do we have a green light on the shot."

"Negative Lt., this kid is standing too close to them and he keeps moving out of range."

"Find the damn shot and take it." The parents listened in horror, praying that their children would walk out that door and come home.

.

"Britt, baby, you got to stop saving people." Santana tried to make her girlfriend smile.

"Someone has to save your ass when you get yourself into trouble." Brittany smiled faintly; she was still losing blood and was very pale. "Sanny, I'm cold." Santana started to panic, she knew that the had maybe a few minutes before Brittany would pass out and precious moments after that before she would be gone. She stood up and looked at Marc.

"Please let me take her out, even if I just take her to the door and leave her there, I will come right back and then you can do what you want, but please don't make me watch her die."

After a few moments of silence Marc turned to her, "She is of no use to me, you have two minutes." Santana nodded and bent down and tried to figure out how to get Brittany out of there. As she worked she whispered to Quinn, "if the sniper takes the shot and misses run for your life, don't second guess, cut through the gym if you have to and then hit the damn deck, I'm coming back to get you ok just sit tight." Brittany as practically passed out so Mr. Shue picked her up and placed her in Santana's arms. Carrying her bridal style made it hard to run, but she did it.

"Santana, what's happening?"

"I'm getting you out B, just hang on for one more second ok baby. You're doing so good, and the medics are going to get you to the hospital and it's going to be ok, I promise." Santana finally reached the double doors and just as she was about to collapse three officers surrounded her; one of them scooped up Brittany and put her on the gurney. She turned to leave when another officer stopped her, "Miss you cannot go back in there." Santana struggled against him when she heard it; glass breaking and over the radio came a deep voice, "negative on the shot, I repeat negative on the shot,, he made us." That was all Santana need to hear. Without really thinking about what she was doing Santana grabbed the cops radio and side arm and ran full tilt to the doors. She ran down the first hallway when she saw the glee kids coming from the other direction. "Santana come on we need to get out now." Quinn tried to pull her along but Santana wouldn't move.

"Where's Mr. Shue?"

"Before the shot he said to let us go and keep him there. Before Marc could answer they took the shot and missed, we ran and he took off with Mr. Shue."

"Get outside and go to the hospital with Brittany, I'll go get Mr. Shue." Before anyone could stop her Santana took off down the hallway. After looking in a few classrooms she saw the auditorium door slightly open. With the gun in her hand raised she slowly opened the door and there on the stage was Marc and Mr. Shue. Marc saw her and pointed the gun at .

"You came back."

"I said I would."

"So you did, well I let your little friends go so you can leave now."

"Not until you let him go with me."

"You're risking your life for a teacher?"

"Looks that way, now let him go."

"There are still two more bullets in this clip, one for him, one for me."

"How about you let him go, shoot yourself and save me the trouble of having to do it."

"You all think you're so damn smart and powerful. I ruled this school today, I was in charge, I killed people."

"And for what, huh, did you get what you wanted out of this?"

"I told you revenge and I would say three dead bodies is a very successful day, four if the blonde goes." Marc smiled and pressed the barrel to Mr. Shue's head. One shot rang out in the room and Marc fell to the ground with a GSW right between his eyes. Santana grabbed Mr. Shue and tore out of there like bats out of hell. When they finally got to the school entrance they were once again surrounded by police.

Before they could say anything Santana handed them the gun, "gunman is down in the auditorium, single GSW to the head, he was about to fire, but I beat him to it." The SWAT team flooded the school and Santana saw where everyone was standing and ran over to them.

"Where is Brittany?"

"Quinn rode with her in the ambulance, they had her stabilized and they just left five minutes ago." Rachel looked like she was about to faint but she could still ramble. Santana looked up and saw her mom behind the tape and for whatever reason she had managed to keep cool until she saw her mother's face. She ran over to her mother and as soon as she felt her mother arms around her she lost all composure and started yelling and crying in absolute hysterics.

"He shot her, the bastard shot my Brittany and momma there was so much blood and she was so pale and I can't lose her. I don't want her to die." Santana repeated over and over again that she didn't want Brittany to die. When she started to calm down the police escorted her, her mother and the glee kids to the hospital; they all needed to be checked out and they could interview them all there. As the car pulled away from the school Santana saw them roll a gurney out of the school with a body bag on it and she felt a mix of guilt and satisfaction. She had taken someone else's life, but she could live with that knowing that he wasn't going to hurt anyone else. The damage had already been done and the only thing she cared about was getting to Brittany.

**So I know everyone hated my last chapter, judging by the two reviews I got and I know this one is angsty and all that. But like I said happy endings are my thing and no major character death. Next few chapters are the aftermath so if you want them I need more than two reviews.**


	21. I Won't Let Go

**Thank you all for your reviews, they totally made me want to get this chapter up faster, hope you all enjoy this next installment.**

The drive to the hospital seemed to drag on forever and when they neared the entrance of the emergency room Santana could see that the media circus had already begun. Most of the group made it inside without any real incident, but when Angela, Mr. Shue and Santana stepped out of their police escort car the cameras went nuts and for the life of her Santana could not understand why. Reporters were shouting questions as they walked past them.

"What do you have to say about the shooting?"

"What about the kid that did this, any words for his family?"

"What is the body count?"

"Who's blood is on your clothes?"

Santana looked down and finally understood why they wanted to talk to her and Shue; she shrugged her mother away and took a step closer to the cameras and in an eerily calm voice said, "Shame on all of you. Something tragic and traumatic happened today. The blood on my shirt and all over my body belongs to my girlfriend who is in surgery while I am out here talking to you vultures. You want to know what I have to say about what happened today. Go home, hug your children, tell someone you love them and pray for the families who lost their children today, the parents whose children will never come home, the parents who will never get to see their child graduate or dance at their weddings, pray for their loved ones who will be carrying around a hole in their hearts for the rest of their lives, pray for the four teenagers who were killed today, pray that they find some kind of peace, pray that that number doesn't grow to five before this day is over. And to the family of the young man who is responsible for this tragedy…" Santana paused and tried to collect herself, "I do not hold you responsible for what he did a neither should anyone else and I will pray that you can one day find peace and rebuild your lives. And before I leave I have one thing to say, if I see anyone with so much as a camera phone in that hospital, anywhere near my girlfriend's room the blood that will be on my shirt next will be yours. That woman is fighting for her life after saving countless others and she deserves your respect. Go home and count your blessings that today it wasn't your life that was changed forever." Santana walked away and followed her mother and teach into the building, leaving a circle of media personnel in a stunned silence.

Santana searched the room looking for her teammates and when she came up empty she asked the nurse behind the desk to search for any information on Brittany, "Can you tell me where Brittany Pierece is?"

"Are you family?"

"She's my partner." Santana was surprised at herself as she had never used that term to refer to Brittany before, but there it was.

"I'm sorry miss, but we can only release information to the family." The nurse started to walk away and Santana chased after her yelling in Spanish when she suddenly felt someone wrap their arms around her waist and when she struggled against them she realized she wasn't getting anywhere. She turned around to see Puck was the one who was stopping her; she stopped fighting.

"Come on, they set us up in the surgery waiting room so we could wait for news about Brittany and be checked out ourselves." Santana followed him down the hall and as they walked into the private waiting room she looked around and saw all the New Directions members with police officers and doctors walking from person to person. Quinn was sitting in between Kurt and Rachel, her hand intertwined with Rachel's and Kurt leaning against her shoulder. She looked up when the door opened and went over to Santana, "when we got here they stabilized her and took her straight to surgery, we haven't heard from anyone since then."

Santana looked Quinn dead in the eye, "what aren't you telling me?"

Quinn swallowed hard, "she crashed once on the way here, she was only gone for about 30 seconds, but it was long enough it could have caused brain damage." Santana wanted to cry, truthfully she wanted to scream and cry because the person she loved most in this world was technically dead and even now she was still fighting to just survive the surgery. Santana sat down in the seat that Quinn had just vacated without saying a word. Rachel went to comfort her, but Quinn stopped her, "she is fighting with her emotions right now, she terrified and traumatized and she wants to cry, but something inside her is telling her not to, to be strong for Brittany. Eventually she will let her wall down and let it all out, but until she does, patting her shoulder and telling her it's going to be ok will not do anyone any good." Rachel looked at Santana sit in the chair with her arms wrapped around herself and as much as she wanted to hug her she knew Quinn was right.

"What about you?" Rachel looked back at her girlfriend.

"I wouldn't mind being hugged and being told that everything is going to be ok." Quinn let a few tears quietly fall and Rachel wrapped her up in a fierce hug. They stayed like that for a few moments before sitting down next to Santana. An hour passed and they heard nothing; Santana was still sitting in an almost catatonic state. Quinn and Rachel had their eyes closed and were curled up on the couch next to where Santana was still sitting. Without saying a word Santana reached over and grabbed Quinn's hand. Quinn looked over and while she was still silent Quinn saw one stray tear roll down her cheek. Her walls had yet to come down completely, but it was a start.

Over the next half hour, parents filed into the waiting room to finally see their children. A fresh set of tears flowed as parents held their children and silently thanked God that they were safe. The only parents not in the room was Quinn's mother and Santana's father who was still on shift at the very hospital they were in. When Judy did finally show up Quinn ran over to her and started sobbing into her mother's shoulder. Her mother tried to soother her, but she knew deep down she wasn't going to be able to do that, so she let Quinn cry until she had no more tears left. Quinn sat back down next to Rachel and Judy looked around and saw Santana sitting next to her mother. Judy walked over to them and stopped right in front of Angela who stood up to greet her friend. Without any words spoken Judy pulled Angela into a hug. Everyone was so focused on supporting their children they had temporarily forgotten that while Santana was ok, she was not the only child that Angela was worried about. Judy let go of Angela and kneeled down next to Santana and gave her a hug which to everyone's surprise the teenager actually returned.

"How you holding up Santana?"

"I'm fine Judy." It was a blatant lie and everyone knew it.

"Don't lie to me Santana, you forget I've known you for too long to fall for the whole I'm fine lie, so let's try again, how are you doing?"

"Not so good."

"Honey, it's ok to cry and be upset and angry, Brittany's your girlfriend, it's only natural that you feel sad and scared right now, it's ok to let it out, no one here will think differently of you."

"I know, but…wait did you just call her my girlfriend?"

"Don't act so surprised, I've known the two of you since Quinn became friends with you guys in preschool, I've seen the way you look at her and more importantly I saw you kiss her the night of Prom." For the first time all day Santana cracked a slight smile, "we thought we were being sneaky."

"Please honey you too are about as sneaky as Quinn is with Rachel." Judy looked over to where her daughter was resting against Rachel's shoulder and Rachel ran her fingers through her hair. "Brittany would never leave you without a fight, she loves you too much."

Santana nodded and went back to her position in the chair, but as Judy walked away Santana told her in a low voice, "Brittany pushed Quinn out of the way and took the bullet instead, she saved her." Judy looked at Santana with tear filled eyes and she leaned over and pressed a kiss to the top of her forehead, "then when she wakes up I'll have to make sure to thank her for saving my baby." Judy took a seat close to where the other parents were sitting and joined in the waiting game. After what seemed like forever a doctor dressed in scrubs finally entered the room.

"You're all here for Brittany Pierce?"

"Yeah we are, she's my girlfriend, is she ok?"

"We have managed to stop the bleeding and thankfully the bullet went through and through didn't hit any major organs. Right now we have to replenish her blood supply and make sure there is no further risk of internal bleeding."

"What about the brain damage they said might happen?" Quinn asked concerned.

"We won't know until we finish the surgery and get her set up in the ICU. If she survives the surgery we will know more. Now I need to get back in there, but I will keep you updated." The doctor got up and left the room. A nurse came in to treat the cut on Santana's face from where she was pistol whipped and to tell her that her arm probably needed to be put in a cast due to the fall that occurred earlier. Santana of course refused to move so the nurse did all of that in the waiting room. Santana was getting restless so she offered to go get coffee; truthfully she needed a minute to clear her head and take in everything that was happening. Some people think that being able to not cry in stressful times is a blessing, but at the moment in the elevator, Santana would have killed to be able to finally be able to cry and allow herself to be upset. While she waited for her coffee order she got lost in her own thoughts until someone behind her calling her name pulled her back into the present.

When she turned around she saw Holly Holiday walking toward her. "Will called and told me what happened, that I saw it all over the news, nice speech by the way. How is she doing?" Santana stood there for a moment; she wasn't sure if it was because Holly looked like what she imagined Brittany would look like in 20 years or if they just had some kind of weird bond, but whatever it was Santana found herself hugging her substitute teacher and breaking down in a fit of sobbing. Holly stood there and let her cry and eventually the sobbing subsided into soft crying.

"Fell any better?"

"I've been holding that in for four hours."

"Why did you wait so long to cry, honey this is the one time you shouldn't have worried about your image and just taken care of yourself."

"I wanted to cry, when we got here, when our parents showed up, when the doctor left to finish the surgery, I wanted to cry, but if I cried it made it real. I don't want this to be real, I want to wake up from this stupid fuck nightmare and I want my girl back."

"I know you do, but not crying isn't going to make this go away, so please if you want to cry, cry."

"Ok, I should get this coffee back up to them or they will think I ran away. Come on I show you where they stationed us." The two women stepped into the elevator and began the ride up to the second floor surgical wing. "Do you think she'll be ok?"

Holly didn't really know how to answer that, "I don't know Santana, but what I do know is that she is tougher than anyone gives her credit for and she will fight with everything she has to come back to you."

"You're the first person who has told me that everything is going to be fine. I want her to be ok and fine and all that, but I don't want to be lied to. I just need her to come back to me cuz I honestly don't know what I will do if she doesn't." As the door opened holly stepped out with Santana, "well then we will just have to make sure she wakes up, then won't we?" Santana nodded. Santana opened the door and let Holly walk in and it seemed that even in a time as dark and scary as this Holly's presence seemed to lift the spirits of everyone in the room. Holly settled in next to Will and Santana handed out the coffee before taking a seat next to Quinn and Rachel.

Quinn look at her friend and knew she had been crying, "you've been crying."

"Yeah I have. I wanted to hours ago, but I just couldn't, but then I ran into Ms. H and everything hit me all at once."

"I'm sorry Santana."

"For what, you didn't shoot her."

"But it was my fault she is hurt."

"No, don't you ever say that, that kid was off his rocker crazy, you had nothing to do with this, B pushed you out of the way, its not like you pulled her in to the line of fire. She made a choice to save you and it's a choice that I support. No more apologizing, ok." Santana got quiet before asking in almost a whisper, "would it be completely out of the question to ask for a hug?" Quinn looked at Santana and smiled before wrapping her arms around the Latina' neck and hugging her. "I need her Quinn, we have the rest of our lives ahead of us and I can't honestly believe that all those dreams are meant to die today."

"You are not going to go through this alone ok, we will all be here to support you and Britt ok. For once let other people take care of you so that you can take care of her ok?" Santana nodded and while she broke the hug she stayed leaning against Quinn's shoulder while Rachel held her other hand. Kurt looked around and his glace fell on Santana sandwiched between Rachel and Quinn and he had an idea. He walked over to Puck and whispered in his ear which led to the boy grabbing his guitar that he had brought with him and strumming a soft melody to which Kurt started to sing to softly

(Kurt)

_It's like a storm  
That cuts a path  
It's breaks your will  
It feels like that_

_(Puck)_

_You think your lost  
But your not lost on your own  
Your not alone_

Everyone had perked up when the singing started and smiled at the gesture; music always did get them through tough times and this was nothing if not a tough time. Everyone started to join in as the song picked up.

_(Puck, Finn, Kurt)  
I will stand by you  
I will help you through  
When you've done all you can do  
If you can't cope_

_(Mercedes, Lauren and Tina)  
I will dry your eyes  
I will fight your fight  
I will hold you tight  
And I wont let go_

Everyone thought that Santana would listen to the song and just take it in no one expected her to jump in.

_It hurts my heart  
To see you cry  
I know it's dark  
This part of life  
Oh it finds us all  
And we're too small  
To stop the rain  
Oh but when it rains_

_(Santana, Rachel and Quinn)_

_I will stand by you  
I will help you through  
When you've done all you can do  
And you can't cope  
I will dry your eyes  
I will fight your fight  
I will hold you tight_

_And I wont let you fall  
_

_(Quinn and Kurt)_

_Don't be afraid to fall  
I'm right here to catch you  
I wont let you down_

_(Rachel, Finn and Puck)  
It wont get you down  
Your gonna make it  
Yea I know you can make it_

Everyone backed off and let Santana have the last part of the song and just helped her with backup vocals.

_(Santana)_

_Cause I will stand by you  
I will help you through  
When you've done all you can do  
And you can't cope  
And I will dry your eyes  
I will fight your fight  
I will hold you tight  
And I wont let go  
Oh I'm gonna hold you  
And I wont let go  
Wont let you go  
No I wont_

Puck put his guitar down and when the room fell silent Santana walked over to Kurt and gave him hug. "Thank you, I needed that."

"Music always gives me perspective, we are all here to help Brittany and help you ok. She will have no shortage of support." They sat back down, but as they did the doctor that had talked to them before returned and walked over to Santana.

"The blood transfusion was successful and we stop the bleeding, we found no more signs of internal bleeding and her vitals were up. We closed about 10 minutes ago and they just moved her into a room up in ICU."

Santana let out a deep breath, like she had been waiting to breathe until she was sure Brittany had made it through the surgery. "Can we see her?"

"I will have a nurse show you to her room, but I should warn you she probably looks very weak and not like the girl you are used to seeing. The few seconds she was down may have caused brain damage resulting in a coma, we won't know until the anesthesia wears off. For now she is on a ventilator, but if she improves over the next few days, her body should start breathing on its own again ad we can take the tube out. I'll have a nurse come down and show you where her room is and there is a larger waiting room up there so your friends can follow you if they wish." The doctor left and Santana tried to focus on the positive and not worry over the negative things the doctor said; she survived the surgery and that was a damn fine pace to start.

**The song in this chapter is I Won't Let Go by Rascal Flatts, hope this chapter started to make up for the nail biting cliffhangers before. You all know the drill, review for next chapter.**


	22. Because You Live

**Wow, guys thanks for the reviews from the last chapter. Rest assured I have what I am doing planned out so I'm not just shooting from my hip and hoping it works. This chapter is going to have mostly Santana in with Brittany, but the other glee kids will be in there as well and because its glee there will be music, hope you enjoy.**

Santana had been waiting for a few minutes when a nurse came in telling her she could take her to Brittany's room. Santana stood up and followed the nurse out of the room, followed by her mother and basically everyone else decided it made sense to move to the ICU waiting room while Santana had her time with Brittany. Santana and her mother rode up the elevator with the nurse and Santana simply stared at the floor waiting for the doors to open on the fourth floor. When they did the nurse walked in front of both women and pointed out to them where the waiting room was, where the nurses' station was and at the end of the hallway the nurse pointed to room 4267 which was where they had placed Brittany. The nurse opened the door and waited for Santana to walk in with her, but before she did she the teen turned to her mother.

"Can I go in by myself first, I just a minute with her alone?" Angela nodded and as Santana followed the nurse in she walked over to the window that offered an unobstructed view of Brittany's room. Angela watched as the nurse explained things about the machines and Brittany's condition to Santana and she watched as her daughter silently nodded her understanding. The nurse left a few moments later and Santana pulled a chair over to the side of Brittany's bed that didn't have machines plugged in on and sat down. Santana was in a sense out of tears, or if she wasn't she couldn't bring herself to let them go. She reached for her girlfriends hand and rubbed circles on the back of it. She looked up and down Britt's body and decided that the doctor was full of it; sure Brittany looked tired and pale, but other than that she looked like she was sleeping.

"Look Britt, you know that I'm never that strict with you, but baby you really need to wake up ok. I know you're in pain and your brain is trying to restart itself, but I also know that you are super amazing and strong so I know that you can fight through all this bullshit and wake up. I mean really everyone is huge mess without you, me especially. Now I'm going to hang out right here until you wake up and we all know how much I hate hospitals and being uncomfortable so if you could expedite that process I would be even more in love with you then I already am which I don't think is humanly possible, but you never know. I don't know if you can hear me, but if you can, you focus on getting better, the others will help take care of me, so you don't have to worry. Now they just redid this place and the plasma TV's are sick, let's see what on." Santana was about to turn the TV on when the doctor reappeared.

"We have some early test results back and it is giving us more to go on. The MRI and CAT scans are showing no brain damage, so really what we are focusing on are her GSW healing without infection and waiting for her brain to finish rebooting itself which will getting her breathing on her own and that kind of thing."

"So how long are we talking before she breaks this hold that the coma has over her."

"We want to see her breathing on her own by the end of 72 hours and hopefully with that we can hope to see her awake in one to two weeks. Her chances look good Ms. Lopez, but she's still very critical. I'll check on her in the morning during rounds." With that the doctor left and Santana sat back down. "Hear that Britt, we're going to get you better, you just gotta open your eyes." Angela walked away from the window, having heard most of the doctor's words she went and shared the news with everyone else in the group. They all had a collective sigh of relief; like they finally allowed themselves to hope for the best.

Santana found nothing on the TV so she shut it off and flipped through her ipod. "I can sing something to you baby, how bought that. Then maybe we can both get some sleep." Santana hit the play button and the soft music filled the room. She held Brittany's hand and softly started to sing to her.

_Staring out at the rain with a heavy heart  
It's the end of the world in my mind  
Then your voice pulls me back like a wake up call  
I've been looking for the answer  
Somewhere  
I couldn't see that it was right there  
But now I know what I didn't know_

Because you live and breathe  
Because you make me believe in myself when nobody else can help  
Because you live, girl  
My world has twice as many stars in the sky

Outside the glee kids had huddled outside the window trying to catch a quick glance of their friend before they went home for the night. They watched and listened as Santana sung.__

It's alright, I survived, I'm alive again  
Cuz of you, made it through every storm  
What is life, what's the use if you're killing time  
I'm so glad I found an angel  
Someone  
Who was there when all my hopes fell  
I wanna fly, looking in your eyes

Because you live and breathe  
Because you make me believe in myself when nobody else can help  
Because you live, girl  
My world has twice as many stars in the sky  
Because you live, I live

Because you live there's a reason why  
I carry on when I lose the fight  
I want to give what you've given me always

Because you live and breathe  
Because you make me believe in myself when nobody else can help  
Because you live, girl  
My world has twice as many stars in the sky

Because you live and breathe  
Because you make me believe in myself when nobody else can help  
Because you live, girl  
My world has everything I need to survive  
Because you live, I live, I live

As the song ended Santana kissed Brittany's forehead and settled back into the chair. She pulled the lever and the chair turned into a sort of chair-bed which allowed her to stretch out and become a little bit more comfortable. She laid on her side and grabbed hold of Brittany's hand again before closing her eyes. Outside the rest of the club members went two at a time into the room to say goodnight before they went home. Rachel and Quinn walked in first and each gave Brittany a quick kiss and made sure Santana was as comfortable as she could possibly be. Kurt and Finn went in next; Kurt brushed stray hairs away from Brittany's face and talked about how he would come back tomorrow and give her a facial, Finn stood at the foot of the bed and awkwardly stared at the floor. Mike and Tina walked in and because neither one really knew what to say they just stood there in silence for a few moments before leaving the room. Mercedes and Puck walked in last; Puck stood stiff in the doorway while Mercedes said goodnight to both Santana and Brittany. Puck stayed in the room and soon felt a hand on his shoulder; Angela offered the boy a smile.

"It's my fault she got hurt." Puck said it matter of factly.

"Did you shoot her?" Angela threw back at him.

"Well, no, but…"

"But nothing Noah, this was a tragic accident that you could not have controlled."

"I set him off and he pointed the gun at Quinn and that's when Brittany jumped in. If I had just shut up, everyone would have been fine."

"Noah you don't know that. Stop blaming yourself sweetheart, no one else does. She'll make it through this Noah, Brittany is stronger than people give her credit for. You should head home honey, it's been a very long day and you need to rest." Puck nodded and walked over the bed and kissed Britt on the cheek. He walked over the Santana and took off his jacket and covered her with it and pressed a quick kiss to her hairline. He said goodnight to Angela as he left the room and left the three women in the room alone. Angela checked in with her husband who assured her that he would keep an eye on Santana during his shift. Reluctantly Angela left the hospital and headed home; there was no point in both her and Santana staying there and Santana needed a little space to deal with what was happening.

Sleeping in that chair wasn't that bad, but it wasn't really comfy either so Santana found herself waking up every few hours which was ok because a nurse would come in to change the medications. She would eventually fall back asleep with the machines beeping in her ear. When the nurse shift changed at 7 the nurse that was leaving was nice enough to bring Santana a cup of coffee before she left. After downing the coffee Santana went into the bathroom to try to make herself look presentable, but in the end she pulled her hair back and decided that would be fine for now. As she sat back down in the chair the door opened and instead of a doctor or a nurse standing there it was Sue.

"Coach?"

"Sandbags."

"What are you doing here?"

"Came to see how one of my best Cheerios is doing."

"We aren't your Cheerios anymore."

"True, but once upon a time you were and you were my top girls. I know what went down yesterday, I was at a conference, but your butt chinned leader and that creepy red head filled me in on what happened." Sue turned to Brittany, "you do know you're supposed to avoid bullets by ducking them, not running into their trajectory path?" Santana smiled a little, some things never change and Sue was one of those things.

"Look snarky comments aside for a moment, how is she doing?"

"Prognosis looks good, she is still critical, but there isn't any brain damage which hopefully means she will be breathing on her own in the next few days and after that it is a matter of keeping the wound free from infection and having her break out of the coma. With any luck she'll wake up by the end of this week."

Sue leaned over Brittany, "listen up blondie, I don't have anything to top being shot, but this is a direct order, you wake up and start saying one liners that make people think you're not all there or so help me god I will haunt your dreams." Sue turned to Santana, "well I've done all I can, my work here is done." Sue started to leave, but stopped, "she's a hero and when she wakes up I'll make sure she's treated like one, same goes for you Butch Cassidy."

"Did you just insult my sexuality and comment on what happened in one nickname?"

"I'm just that good." Sue left the room and Santana flipped through the channels hoping to find something and just as she settled on watching Man vs. Food the door opened again; this time it was Will.

"Hey Santana."

"Hi Mr. Shue."

"Santana you quite literally saved my life I think it would be ok for you to call me Will."

"Will it is then."

"How is the patient doing?"

"Same as last night, but the outlook looks good and promising."

"I'm glad to hear it; glee club wouldn't be the same without Brittany and her comedic lines about my lessons and things in general." Will grew silent, "I think she is going to pull through this Santana; she's a strong girl and with you by her side she can do anything."

"I just wish I could do more, wave a magic wand and fix everything you know?"

"I do, but Santana, as much as it sucks sometimes the hardships in life are things we have to experience no matter how messy things might get. Living through these trials is what makes us strong."

"No offense Will, but with what we have been through already, don't you think we are already strong enough; I mean damn it when will our lives be easy and simple."

"Maybe never, maybe tomorrow. Santana life is busy and messy and depressing and crazy, but it is also beautiful and wonderful and who knows maybe your lives weren't meant to be easy, but you have each other and that is the strength that will get you through anything that pops up."

"It won't pay her hospital bills now will it?"

"No, but Sue and I will. We talked briefly about it and decided that money should be the last thing on your mind right now. Focus on her getting better and let us take care of that end."

"I don't know how I'll ever be able to repay you."

"You saved my life and as far as I am concerned, I'll do anything I can to help in this situation. I just wanted to come say hello before my meeting. We closed the school a week early because of everything, but now we have a million meetings to sort everything out with each other and police and learn new safety things. But call if there is any change or you need anything ok?" Santana nodded and with that Will left the room and Santana turned to smile at Brittany before she looked back at the screen.

**Sorry for the wait, I'm visiting family and at night I just want to sleep. Next chapter will be up soon so shoot me a review if you want some more…thanks for the last set of reviews and I hoped you enjoyed this one.**


	23. I Need You

The next day went much the same way the one before it had; doctors and nurses in and out to administer medication and check on Brittany's progress which wasn't much. Her vitals had picked up and her wounds showed no sign of infection so what little progress there was, was positive for the most part. She still needed the ventilator and she had yet to wake up, but everyone focused on the good rather than the bad. Santana had kept a watchful eye over Brittany and had only taken a short break to take a shower and change clothes. Around 2 in the afternoon her mother swung by the hospital and brought Santana food and fresh clothes, she also brought a few things from Brittany's room to make the room seem a little less dreary. Santana ate quickly and watched as her mother taped some pictures around the room and smiled when she placed Brittany's baby blanket next to her in the bed. Santana allowed herself to fall asleep in the chair that was still right next to Brittany's bedside. About an hour later there was a soft knock at the door and when it swung open it wasn't another hospital employee it was Puck who had his guitar in hand.

"Hello Noah."

"Hi Mrs. Lopez, sorry I didn't realize that Santana was asleep, I can come back later."

"Nonsense come in, I was just about to go grab some coffee and that way someone will be here when Santana wakes up from her nap." Angela got up and walked out of the room leaving Puck with the girls. He grabbed an empty chair and pulled it to the other side of the bed and sat down and strummed a few chords.

"Look Brittany, I'm not that good at expressing feelings or anything like that, but we all know I can grind a mean axe so I thought maybe you'd like a little mini concert to drown out the beeping of these damn machines and maybe the music will keep your lady asleep a little longer cuz she needs some rest." Puck repositioned the guitar and began to play and then followed the music with soft singing.

_And even though the moment passed me by  
I still can't turn away  
Cause all the dreams you never thought you'd lose  
Got tossed along the way  
And letters that you never meant to send  
Get lost or thrown away_

And now we're grown up orphans  
That never knew their names  
We don't belong to no one  
That's a shame  
But if you could hide beside me  
Maybe for a while  
And I won't tell no one your name

And I won't tell em your name

Scars are souvenirs you never lose  
The past is never far  
Did you lose yourself somewhere out there  
Did you get to be a star  
And don't it make you sad to know that life  
Is more than who we are

You grew up way too fast  
And now there's nothing to believe  
And reruns all become our history  
A tired song keeps playing on a tired radio  
And I won't tell no one your name  
And I won't tell em your name

I think about you all the time  
But I don't need the same  
It's lonely where you are come back down  
And I won't tell em your name 

Puck put the guitar down and leaned over Brittany and kissed her forehead. "I'm sorry I got you hurt, if I had stayed quiet he wouldn't have shot at Quinn and you wouldn't be here. I'm just so sorry Brittany and well, I…I mean we, all the glee peeps want you to get better and wake up because its not the same without you around making off hand comments and between you and me, Santana is a freakin mess without you." Puck brushed her hair away from her face and kissed her forehead once more when Santana's voice startled him, "quit mackin' on my girl Puck."

"Wouldn't dream of it. How long have you been awake?"

"Your voice cracked a little in the second verse." The Latina smirked.

"Did not. Did you finally get some rest?"

"I've been grabbing some shut eye here and there, I managed to grab a shower earlier, at this rate I'll feel almost human by dinner. How's everyone doing?"

"About as good as anyone can expect. No one has been sleeping that well, Rachel's dads' referred everyone to therapists and we've been worried sick about you and Brittany. Everyone is asking when they can come see her."

"They can come whenever they want, I can't guarantee I'll be good company, but it'd be nice to see some familiar faces. The doctor said she might be able to hear what everyone says so I'm sure she would appreciate having people around her, talking to her."

"I'll tell the rest of the gang and they will probably drop in when they can. Is there anything I can get for you?"

"The only thing I need is for her to wake up."

"I know and if I could I would give you that, but is there anything else I can do for you?"

"I'm ok, thanks though."

Puck offered a slight smile, "Sure thing and for what it's worth, I'm sorry that my stupid mouth got her hurt."

"Don't, don't blame yourself for that. None of us knew what he was going to do, maybe he planned on killing us all, maybe not, but the point is what she did saved us all from ever finding out. She made that sacrifice, she made that decision, none of what happened is your fault. You know she would be sad to wake up and hear that you blamed yourself."

"Well we can't have that can we? I have to go, but Rachel and Quinn are probably going to come visit later." He gave Santana a tight hug and walked out of the door. Santana sat back down in her chair and pulled out a book from the bag that her mother had brought form the house.

"Ok Britt, looks like you are almost done with this book so what do you say we finish it right now. 'There is neither happiness nor misery in the world; there is only the comparison of one state with another, nothing more. He who has felt the deepest grief is best able to experience supreme happiness." As she continued to read Rachel and Quinn had arrived at the door and had started to listen to Santana as she read.

"[U]ntil the day when God will deign to reveal the future to man, all human wisdom is contained in these two words,—'Wait and hope.' Wow Britt, killer ending, maybe I'll read the beginning someday." Quinn picked this moment to speak, "you should have read it last semester it was on our reading list for AP Literature."

"Just trying to keep Sparknotes in business Q." Santana put the book on the shelf and went and hugged her best friend and her girlfriend. Rachel shifted from foot to foot, looking like she didn't know what to do.

"Rachel you can sit down and relax a little." Santana tried to make her feel a little more at ease. Rachel sat down and looked at Brittany, "anything new?"

"Nope, but she is doing a little bit better in the vitals department so its something. You can talk to her if you'd like, the doc says it helps the person feel like they are still connected to the awake world; it gives them a reason to wake up." Rachel nodded and turned her attention back to Brittany, "Hi Brittany, it's Rachel, but then I guess you knew that and so what I said must have sounded an awful lot like I was leaving a message on a phone." Rachel continued to ramble until Quinn stopped her, "baby just breath and talk to her like we do normally."

"Nothing about this is normal Quinn. Days ago Brittany was a healthy, happy teenager and now she is fighting for her life. People are dead Quinn, people's lives were changed and none of this is fucking normal." Rachel got up from her chair and ran out of the room. Quinn was about to go after her, but Santana stopped her, "you stay, let me go try to calm her down." Quinn shot Santana a questioning look, "hey give me a little credit, she may be short and talk way too much, but she's your girlfriend so I by best friend code I have to at least like her and so I'm going to go try to help her. Rachel hadn't gotten far; she ended up in the maternity ward at the window that displayed the newborns. Santana walked up so that she was standing shoulder to shoulder with Rachel.

"I come up here too when it gets to be too much downstairs. After all the death we saw that day, all the shit that went down it is nice to look at brand new baby and smile. They have their whole lives ahead of them and they are absolutely perfect and innocent."

"How are you being so calm and put together, the person you love is lying in a bed trying to wake up from a coma and she may or may not survive. How are you not a complete mess of tears?"

"You think I'm not freaked out, that I'm not terrified of what could happen? If I lose her a huge part of me dies with her. I'd never survive her dying. I'd brave hell to bring her back to me, back to us. When it's just her and me in the room, when I'm in the shower, whenever I have a moment by myself I cry. I don't like having other see me cry because everyone is upset enough as it is, seeing me lose it again won't help anyone."

"Maybe people need to see you cry to know that its ok for them to cry."

"Maybe your right, I'll try to be more honest about my feelings, but that means you have to be honest about yours."

"I'm angry."

"About?"

"Everything, I'm angry at that kid that hurt so many people, I'm mad that the sweetest and most simple girl is hurt and fighting for her life, I'm mad that nothing will ever be the same, I'm mad because every night I have nightmare about what happened and I'm mad that my hair dryer broke this morning." Santana couldn't help but laugh.

"Really your hair dryer huh?"

"Well you asked what was making me angry and it is a contributing factor."

"What can I do to make you feel better?"

"Tell me that we can get through this, that we can rebuild our lives."

"That I can promise you; we are trying to work through something really traumatic Rachel, but with time and with some professional help we can get back to the way we were."

"Our lives will never be the same, you know that."

"Your right, our lives will be better because we would have survived this together. Rachel I'm not going to promise you something that I can't guarantee; I promise you that we will get through this, good or bad, we will get through it together. And Rachel it's ok to be angry, but you have to let it out every now and then or it will consume you. Now come on, God only knows that Quinn has probably been talking Brittany's ear off by now." They both turned to leave but something caught their eye as they were about to walk away. A nurse had just placed a brand new, smiling, baby girl in the window and Santana couldn't help but smile too. "See there Berry, even the kid knows it's going to be ok, it's a new beginning for everyone." They made their way back to the room and heard Quinn talking to Brittany, but she stopped when the two girls entered the room.

"Are you ok?"

Rachel nodded, "I'm better, what have you two been doing while we were gone?"

"I was giving Brittany and manicure and reading some of the cosmo articles to her, good news for you Santana."

"Yes Quinn, I had been worried that Brittany didn't know the top ten ways to drive her man wild."

"Some of the tips of just for relationships like what to do if your significant other is a moody cheerleader." Quinn shot back at Santana with a smirk on her face.

"Are you both really going to fight about this?" Rachel looked confused.

"We weren't fighting, we were communicating sarcastically. Trust me if we were fighting you'd know it."

"Anyway, Quinn and I thought that maybe you could use a change of scenery, but then we knew you would refuse to leave, so we decided that we were going to force you to go get some food for yourself and we will sit here and stare awkwardly at Brittany for you."

Santana tilted her head to one side, "ok Rachel this is what I heard, blah blah blah, blah blah, blah blah blah." Quinn poked her in the side and Santana rolled her eyes, "fine I'm sorry for mocking you and I guess I'm sort of hungry and that chair is the most god awful thing to sit on, let alone sleep on. So I will go grab some dinner as long as you guys are ok with hanging out with Britt Britt."

"We will be right here when you get back." Santana grabbed her purse and kissed Brittany before walking out of the room. Quinn sat in the chair that Santana had been basically living in and Rachel pulled up a chair next to her.

"I talked to her while you guys were gone, but I never told her the one thing I wanted to say."

"What was that?"

"I wanted to thank her for saving me like she did, but I guess I couldn't find the words to say it properly. I mean how do you thank someone for saving your life and being a hero; Hallmark hasn't made a card for that yet and I don't want to cheapen her sacrifice with the wrong words."

"Well, you could try singing it to her."

"Poor Britt is going wake up and complain that everyone who visited her sang."

"Not everyone, just you, me, Puck and Santana and maybe a group number somewhere in there." Rachel smiled a little. "Quinn if you can thank her and express your feelings better in a song then do that. You have to process your feelings in whatever you feel will be most productive and if that is singing so be it." Quinn looked at Brittany, "look Britt this is a sort lovey dovey song but I think it totally applies so bear with me."

_Come stop your crying  
It will be all right  
Just take my hand Hold it tight_

I will protect you  
from all around you  
I will be here  
Don't you cry

For one so small,  
you seem so strong  
My arms will hold you,  
keep you safe and warm  
This bond between us  
Can't be broken  
I will be here  
Don't you cry

'Cause you'll be in my heart  
Yes, you'll be in my heart  
From this day on  
Now and forever more

You'll be in my heart  
No matter what they say  
You'll be here in my heart, always

Why can't they understand  
the way we feel  
They just don't trust  
what they can't explain  
I know we're different but,  
deep inside us  
We're not that different at all

And you'll be in my heart  
Yes, you'll be in my heart  
From this day on  
Now and forever more

Don't listen to them  
'Cause what do they know  
We need each other,  
to have, to hold  
They'll see in time  
I know

When destiny calls you  
You must be strong  
I may not be with you  
But you've got to hold on  
They'll see in time  
I know  
We'll show them together

'Cause you'll be in my heart  
Yes, you'll be in my heart  
From this day on,  
Now and forever more

Oh, you'll be in my heart  
No matter what they say  
You'll be in my heart, always  
Always

Rachel held tight to Quinn's hand and the two sat there and returned to talking to Brittany about random things. For that time they we just happy to be near their friend and for the first time in days they both felt that with time, everything would be ok.


	24. Eighty Percent

That night Santana was restless, no matter how much she tossed and turned in the chair she couldn't fall asleep which was pissing her off because she was tired and would have loved nothing more than to fall asleep. Finally she flipped onto her back and started to flip through the channels and settled on a movie. It didn't matter that she had seen this movie three times since they had arrived at the hospital; she actually hoped it would bore her to sleep, but it sadly didn't. She ignored the TV and eventually shut if off so that the only lights in the room were the ones that came from the machines.

"Brittany, honey you know I'm not very strict with you, but if you could wake up sooner rather than later it'd be great and my back would thank you." Santana settled back into the pillow when she heard a sound, like a struggled gurgle. She quickly hit the light button that was connected to Brittany's bed and she quickly figured out that the sound was Brittany struggling against the breathing tube. Santana was confused, scared and frantic; Brittany was still very much unconscious, but her body was rejecting the tube. Knowing that the nurse call button would get a delayed response she leapt from the chair and ran out the door and straight to the nurses' station. She returned with the floor nurse who lowered the bed and slowly removed the tube. Santana looked for any sign that Brittany was actually awake, but the fact that she didn't even cough told her what she needed to know. The nurse checked everything else and told Santana that the fact that she started breathing on her own was excellent news and that the doctor would check in with them first thing on his rounds. She also told Santana that she would lower the pain medication to a level that would help incite Brittany's body to wake up. Santana thanked the nurse and as soon as the woman left the room she sat on the corner of the chair and cried into the blanket that surrounded Brittany; if she was breathing with help, maybe she would wake up soon. After allowing herself time to cry she quickly pulled out her phone and texted her mother and Quinn.

Her phone started to ring and it was her mother, "your father and I are on our way, did she wake up or did the just get rid of the tube?"

"She started coughing and they removed the tube, she's still out though, but they said it was a good sign. You guys don't have to come, its 3am."

"I know what time it is Santana and we will be there in 15 minutes." The line went dead and Santana smiled, her parents loved Brittany just as much as she did and if nothing else they wanted to be there to support their daughter. Her phone vibrated after another minute and it was Quinn.

_Q: OMG is she awake? Are you ok? Is she ok? Do you need anything? Do you want me to wake Rachel and come over?_

Santana laughed to herself; Rachel's ramblings had rubbed off onto Quinn.

_S: First off, why would you wake her up, is she asleep in your bed or are you two just having a slumber party ;-) She isn't awake, but its progress and it shows signs of her healing. I'm ok, she's is fine and my parents are on their way so we don't need anything right now, but you guys can come by in the morning if you want._

_Q: First off, bite me, she slept on my couch. And I'm sure she will insist that we come visit the two of you in the morning so expect a visit. Try and get some rest, I'm sure you look like hell ;-)_

Santana smiled and put her phone back in her pocket before settling into the chair and finally falling asleep. What seemed like minutes later Santana felt someone tapping her shoulder and when she opened her eyes it was the doctor. "So to wake you Santana, but the nurses told me about the breathing tube and I wanted to come and check on Brittany first thing." Santana sat up and rubbed her eyes and focused on the doctor checking Brittany's vital signs and pushing random buttons on the machines that still lined the bed.

"I'm going to check her air way and make sure her breathing is even." Santana nodded as if she was giving him the ok to do so. He opened Brittany's mouth and using a tool he flashed a light down her throat and apparently everything was fine because he gently closed her mouth and took his stethoscope off from around his neck and pressed the round end to Brittany's chest. After moving it around he nodded and noted something on the computer before he turned to Santana.

"Her throat is expectedly inflamed from the removal of the tube, but that will go down over the next few days and it shouldn't be too painful for her, but it will make it hard to talk when she wakes up. I'm going to have them start her on a slow flow of oxygen just to help her lungs while the get back into working on their own. They can probably take her off it when she wakes up. The wound looks good and is healing properly, no sign of infection, so under the circumstances she is doing remarkably well."

Santana nodded, she wanted to smile and start crying, but she had to make sure. "You keep saying when she will wake up; do you think she will anytime soon?"

"Now that she is breathing on her own and the GSW is healing I would put her survival probability at about 80%. The question of when is completely up to her and her body, she is at a lower level of pain medication, which doesn't mean she is going to be in large amounts of pain, it just means that her body will be less inclined to sleep or stay in the coma. We can always increase it if she shows signs of discomfort."

"So she's going to be ok?" Tears were already running down her face.

The doctor smiled at her, "your friend is very strong and she has survived a terrible ordeal, but I think it's safe to assume that she will make a full recovery. I'll have a nurse come in to turn her, just to avoid bed sores, but aside from that, she will come back when she is ready. Have a good day Ms. Lopez, I'll check in on Brittany before I leave this evening. By the way your parents have been waiting outside since early this morning I'll send them in." When the door closed the tears continued, happy tears of course, but tears all the same. She held Brittany's hand and kissed it and held it close to her face. The door opened and before she knew it Santana felt her mother's arms around her shoulders. Without turning around to her mother she spoke, "they think she's going to be ok and hopefully wake up soon; she's going to come back to me." Santana looked like a kid on Christmas and Angela had never seen her so happy.

"We always knew she'd come back to you, she just needed time honey, and she'll wake up soon and wonder what all the fuss is about. We got here early, but the nurse said you had finally fallen asleep so we waited in the waiting room."

"You could have come in."

"Shelly said you hadn't slept all night and you had finally fallen asleep we weren't about to wake you up just to tell you that we had arrived. The doctor seemed happy with her progress." Santana just nodded, "he said it's a matter of her body being ready to deal with the pain and being awake and functioning, but he seemed hopeful."

"Well now that she is doing better how about you go take a shower and change."

"I don't want to leave her she might wake up."

"I'll stay right here, your dad has to go start his shift soon, but I can stay here and if anything changes I will pull your naked butt out of the shower, ok?"

"I guess so." Santana kissed Brittany before turning around and grabbing some fresh clothes from her bag and heading into the bathroom. For the first time in the last three days she took her time in the shower; she massaged sore muscles and slowly shampooed her hair before rinsing it. After she dried off, she put her hair up and threw on jeans and a tshirt before stepping out of the bathroom. Her mother was sitting in a chair reading a magazine and Brittany was still out cold. They had moved her and set up the oxygen flow, but everything else remained the same. Santana took her seat next to Brittany and continued to stare at her.

"Honey watching her isn't going to make her wake up sooner."

"You don't know that, it might." Angela shook her head and smiled at Santana's stubbornness.

"Well, I'm going to go check on your brother, but I'll bring you back some more clothes, ok. Anything else you want from the house?"

"The stuffed duck off Brittany's bed, she'll want him." Angela nodded and after grabbing the duffle bag that had dirty clothes in it she left the room. A minute later a soft knock came from the door and when Santana looked up it was Quinn and Rachel. Santana quickly got up from her chair and practically threw herself at Quinn who met her with a very fierce hug that reduced them both to tears. Rachel let them have their moment, she knew that the three former cheerleaders were exceptionally close; they were the Unholy Trinity after all. When they let go Rachel gave Santana hug before letting her sit back down. "She started coughing this morning and they took it out and now her chances are so much higher, and it's up to her when she wakes up, it's more waiting."

"At least it's waiting for something that is more certain, I mean she is more likely to wake up now right?"

"Yeah Rachel, her chances are way better now." The three of them sat and talked to each other and to Brittany. They texted the other kids and Mr. Shue; all of them promised to come by at some point and for the rest of the afternoon they all made their way in to see Brittany. Kurt gave her the facial that he had promised, Puck, Artie, Sam and Finn watched part of a football game in the room with her, Tina, Mike and Mercedes just visited and cried. Mr. Shue was still stuck at the school, but promised to come by when he could. The whole day was simply exhausting and that night Santana had no trouble getting to sleep.

**Its short I know, but I do have the next chapter planned out, so I just have to write it. I know that realistically if she had started breathing on her own she would probably be awake, but this isn't the real world so it is what it is. Reviews are great; I'd love to hear what you all think and any suggestions and know worries Britt will be back with us soon enough ;-)**


	25. Wyatt

**Wow guys we broke the 100 review marker so thanks for that. Hope you guys enjoy this chapter and make sure to review after.**

Three days after they removed the tube Brittany was still in her coma and Santana was growing more and more concerned. The doctor assured her that Brittany would come to when her body could handle being conscious. Santana had spent the last few days reading to Brittany, mostly because she couldn't stand to room being silent. When she realized she was running out of reading material she scooped out the books that were in the room; they put a few random books in every room of the hospital, but Santana wondered why they picked the ones they did. For whatever reason one of the books in Brittany's room was a book of baby names and since Santana had already read the others, that was the book she grabbed off the shelf. She sat down in her chair and cracked open the book.

"Ok Britt, my apologies on this book, but honestly we've read everything else and who knows maybe we will find some we can hold onto for when we have ankle bitters of our own. Matter of fact, I'll make you a deal; if you wake up after I read a name we will name one of children that name, deal? I will take your silence as an agreement." Santana started reading off names; she started with the A's and after questioning what parent in their right mind would name their baby some of them, she decided to screw the ABC's and flipped to the J names.

"Brittany, no offense, but I think we could literally pick our babies name out of a hat and do better than these. Plus this book was published like 10 years ago and times have changed." Santana continued to read of names, some of them were ok so she would scribble them down on a piece of paper. When she was about to skip ahead to the W names, mostly to see if there were any W names that didn't make her laugh hysterically, she heard a knock at the door. When she looked up it was Quinn who had a cup of coffee in her hand.

"Thought you could use this."

"I could kiss you." Santana took the cup and started sipping on her drink.

"I don't think your girlfriend or mine would like that very much, a thank you will do just fine."

"Thank you Quinn, queen of the smartasses."

"You might actually explode if you were nice to some wouldn't it."

"Well, thank God we will never have to find out; I didn't become the HBIC by helping little old ladies across the street."

"Nice to see even a personal crisis can't make you change your personality."

"Nope you guys are stuck with me for life."

"Well, aren't we lucky? Speaking of which, everyone is in the waiting room for their daily Brittany time." Ever since the tube had come out the whole glee gang had come by everyday to spend time with Brittany and give Santana a break to shower or eat.

"Cool, tell them in 15 they can come in, we haven't finished the W's yet." Quinn gave her a weird look so Santana held the book so Quinn could read the title of the book.

"Something you want to tell me Santana."

"No dummy, I ran out of things to read. Besides we will have children someday so why not get a jump start." Quinn laughed and shook her head, "you're crazy, you know that right? But out of curiosity what will my future godchild's name be."

"I made a deal with Britt that if she wakes up after a read a name we can name our child that and what makes you so certain that you will be asked to be the godmother."

"Well, I'm your best friend and Brittany's best friend and I'm awesome so I am clearly the superior choice for godmother."

"Well, don't hold your breath, besides she hasn't woken up yet so this fictions future baby still is nameless." Quinn gave Santana a quick hug around her shoulders, "maybe you just haven't come across the right name yet. I'll tell the other to hang out for a bit, just holler when they can come in." With that Quinn left the room and Santana went back to reading off names. After about 15 minutes Santana was nearing the end of the W names.

"Well, Britt unless you like the name Wyatt, we have reached the end of the W baby names. I'm sure that the others want to come see you so I'll just go get them." Santana put the book down on the bed and started to walk toward the door. Her hand was on the handle when, "I like Wyatt." Santana's heart sank into her stomach as she turned around. She ran back to the side of the bed; Brittany's eyes were still closed, but she definitely heard her speak, at least she thought she did.

"Britt, Britt baby did you just speak? Brittany please if you're awake just open your eyes and look at me, look at me baby. Please look at me and say something, anything." With a little effort Brittany's eyes fluttered open, trying to adjust to the bright lights that were set above the bed. She opened her eyes all the way and for the first time in a week Santana saw the piercing blue eyes she had fallen in love with years before. Brittany locked eyes with Santana, "Can we name our baby Wyatt?" Brittany smiled and for a second it was like nothing had happened.

With tears running down both sides of her face Santana chocked out, "we can name our baby whatever the hell you want, I'm just so glad you woke up." Santana kissed Brittany hard on the lips; it was desperate and passionate and full of tears, but Santana couldn't help it, she finally got her girl back. She pulled back and looked at Brittany, "thank you for not dying."

"Your welcome." Brittany would be the one to crack a joke in this situation.

"Britt, I'm going to go get the doctor ok?"

"No, I don't want to you to go, I don't want to lose you again." Santana smiled a sad smile, "baby you never lost me, I've been right here every day, 24/7 for the last week."

"I meant he was going to kill you."

"So you remember what happened?" Brittany nodded, "and judging from the pain in my side, it won't be something I soon forget. What happened to him?"

"I shot him. He was going to shoot Mr. Shue so I shot him first."

"He's dead isn't he?" Santana nodded and Brittany grabbed her hand, "I'm sorry you had to do that, but you did it to save Mr. Shue, you're a hero."

"No, you pushed Quinn out of the way and pulled me out of the line of fire. What I did I did because I had too, but you, you saved us Britt, not just me and Quinn, but all of us; you're the hero in this story, not me."

"Can we talk about it later, talking about it makes me sad and I don't want to be sad right now?" Santana brushed a few stray tears from her eyes, "sure babe, we don't have to talk about right now. I'm just so glad you're ok and awake, you have no idea how much you scared me. I don't know what I'd do if I lost you." Santana felt the tears welling up in her eyes, but then Brittany took her hand and put it over her own chest, allowing Santana to fell her heartbeat. "Then I guess it's a good thing that I'm never going to leave you."

Santana smiled, "I guess so. I'm going to call the nurse in, they are going to want to check you out, make sure everything is ok." Santana hit the call button and a few minutes later a nurse walked in and was very surprised to see Brittany awake. She quickly checked her vitals, the GSW and the surgical incision. She gave Brittany another shot of pain meds and sent a page to the doctor alerting him to the fact that

Brittany had woken up. When the nurse left the room Santana sent a text to Quinn, asking her to come to the room. Quinn left the waiting room and headed to Brittany's room; she assumed Santana was done wand that the group could come visit Brittany. She opened the door without knocking and was shocked to see Brittany wide awake and talking.

"Quinn, how come you look like you've seen a ghost?" Brittany looked confused and Santana just sat there with the biggest smile on her face. Quinn was floored, "You're awake and alive and awake."

"You said that already. Well what's a girl have to do to get a hug from her best friend?" Quinn quickly went over and gently hugged Brittany and like Santana, she started to cry. "Brittany, I don't even know what to say, I'm just so shocked and happy and relieved that your ok."

"You don't have to say anything, I heard you guys when you talked to me and when you sang." Santana looked back at Brittany, "you heard all that."

"It was like I was in a dream, but I heard it."

"Even so, Brittany, what you did for me, was brave and heroic and I don't think I can ever thank you for saving me like that."

"We are friends silly, family really and nobody fucks with family. Right Sanny?" Santana kissed the top of Brittany's head, "you got it babe." Quinn dried her eyes and started for the door, "I'm going to go tell everyone the good news ok?" Santana nodded and when Quinn left the room Brittany spoke.

"Can you cuddle with me Santana?"

"I don't want to hurt you baby."

"You won't, just lie down on my good side; I need to feel you close to me." Santana carefully lied down next to Brittany on the bed and held her against her own body. "Will you sing to me Sanny?"

"What do you want to hear?"

"Something happy."

"You got it." Santana thought about it for a minute and as she reached down to lace her fingers with Brittany's she started to softly sing.

I've been a walking heartache  
I've made a mess of me  
The person that I've been lately  
Ain't who I wanna be

But you stay here right beside me  
Watch as the storm blows through  
And I need you

God gave me you for the ups and downs  
God gave me you for the days of doubt  
For when I think I've lost my way  
There are no words here left to say, it's true  
God gave me you

There's more here than what we're seeing  
A divine conspiracy  
That you, an angel lovely  
Could somehow fall for me  
You'll always be love's great martyr  
Ill be the flattered fool  
and I need you

God gave me you for the ups and downs  
God gave me you for the days of doubt  
For when I think I've lost my way  
There are no words here left to say, it's true  
God gave me you

On my own I'm only  
Half of what I could be  
I can't do without you  
We are stitched together  
And what love has tethered  
I pray we never undo

God gave me you for the ups and downs  
God gave me you for the days of doubt  
God gave me you for the ups and downs  
God gave me you for the days of doubt  
For when I think I've lost my way  
There are no words here left to say, it's true  
God gave me you, gave me you.  
Gave me you.

Santana kissed Brittany as she fell asleep beside her. Outside the rest of the glee gang watched with tearful eyes as the two former cheerleaders fell asleep holding each other and for the first time in a week, everyone felt hopeful for what was to come.

**Hope everyone liked that chapter and Brittany is back! Review for more and I will get cracking on the next chapter soon.**


	26. The Beauty and the Tragedy

**Stayed up late to do a long one for you guys, enjoy.**

The next day was the first time Brittany was ready for visitors, so as soon as visiting hours started the Glee gang made their way back over to the hospital. They went in one at a time so as not to overwhelm the still very tired Brittany. By lunchtime they had all made their way in to see Brittany and after many tearful reunions Brittany was beyond tired, so the rest of the gang left to get lunch and allow her to get some sleep. Santana ended up going to lunch with her friends mostly because Brittany insisted that she leave the room for a little while for the sake of her sanity. When she returned her mother was sitting in one of the chairs near Brittany's bed and the two of them were chatting.

"You're supposed to be sleeping B."

"I know, but I heard your mom come in and I wanted to talk to her."

"Don't be mad Santana, Brittany and I had a lot of things to catch up on." She winked at her daughter who smiled and settled into a chair next to her mother. "I was just about to tell Brittany that something very interesting came in the mail this morning." Angela dug around in her purse and soon handed Santana the envelope.

"It's from the mayor's office." Santana observed before she reached in and pulled out the two page letter. She scanned it carefully and when she finished it her face contorted slightly.

"Sanny what is it?"

"They are having a fund raiser/memorial dinner at the school next week, to help the families who lost a child pay for the funerals and to replace some of the things in the school that were destroyed that day. This is an invitation to attend the dinner."

"Why would they want you and Brittany there?" Angela was just as confused as Santana was.

Santana took a deep breath and read straight from the letter, "The mayor would like to invite you and Ms. Pierce as her personal guests to this fund raiser. The mayor has commissioned two awards to be made that are to be awarded to Ms. Lopez and Ms. Pierce respectively." Santana looked up from the letter.

"Why do they want to give us awards? We didn't do anything." Brittany was still confused and as Santana read the rest of the letter she breathed heavily and exhaled sharply. "Bravery and sacrificing our own safety to insure the safety of others, they say that we are heroes because of what we did that day and we deserve the recognition." Angela saw that Santana looked almost angry as she read that part of the letter.

"What's wrong Santana?" Angela put a hand on her daughter's shoulder only to have her flinch away from her and stand up. "Brittany is a hero; she saved Quinn and then me and probably everyone else in Glee. But me I shot someone so I'd really like to know when they started handing out awards for murder because that is all I did that day. I'm not a fucking hero." With that she threw the paper to the floor and bolted out of the room despite her mother calling her back. Outside she bumped into Quinn, but kept running, leaving a very confused Quinn as she disappeared. Eventually Santana ended up on the roof just pacing and looking out over the edge of the building. Quinn wasn't sure how she got up there, but when Santana wanted something she knew how to get it and right then Santana wanted space. Santana finally seemed to get tired of pacing and simply stood still so Quinn took this opportunity to try to talk to her friend.

"Your mom told me what happened."

"Great."

"Why are you so upset?"

"Because I'm not a fucking hero and everyone keeps saying that I am. I killed a kid Q, I didn't do anything brave. Brittany took a bullet for you and saved me and by doing so saved everyone else. She deserves an award, not me."

"Are you dumb or simply oblivious? How could you possibly say that you aren't a hero? Who got Marc to let Tina go, who carried a half alive Brittany out to safety only to turn around to make sure we were safe and save our teacher. What you two did that day is normally only seen in movies because no human would ever be that selfless or stupid, but you both were willing to sacrifice it all for each other and for us and damn it Santana if that isn't heroic I don't know what is. If you feel guilty about having to shoot Marc then we can get you some help, find you some therapy, but you did what you had to do to save Mr. Shue's life and stop Marc from hurting anyone else."

"I didn't have to kill him, I could have wounded him. I didn't have to kill him." And with that Santana broke down into tears. Quinn held her close to her and tried to comfort her friend, but eventually Quinn knew she had to let Santana cry it out. "Santana you are not a monster, you just got put in a shitty situation. But hell honey even the cops said that in that situation you have to shoot to kill or you risk the gunman shooting someone before they hit the ground. You did everything you could do and you gave him every chance to walk away unharmed; he made his choice Santana and he answered for them. You are not him, ok, you…are you and we love you, nothing will ever change that, ok."

"Ok. I think I'd like to go back inside now." The two girls made their way back to Brittany's room where Santana promptly climbed into Brittany's bed and held onto her. No one questioned her behavior; they just let her be, because at the very least she seemed calmer than before. When they woke up both girls did eventually agree to attend the fundraiser that was going to be held at the end of the next week.

Brittany was released the next day as her wounds had been healing nicely and everything seemed to be going well for her. Being able to heal at home allowed her some time to relax in the comfort of her own house and continue to physically recuperate before having to return to the scene of their nightmare. As the day of the dinner grew closer, Santana became more frightened of how Brittany would react psychologically to being back at the school so she and Brittany had agreed that they would get there early before anyone else to give themselves some time to slowly feel comfortable. Santana helped Brittany into her dress for the evening, a red spaghetti strap dress with a black lace belt. Santana was wearing a black halter top evening gown that was simply stunning. They took a separate car than Santana's parents so that they could come and go as they pleased. When they pulled into the parking lot Santana pulled into her usual parking spot and killed the engine. As the motor died down Brittany grabbed onto Santana's hand and squeezed it.

"We don't have to do this Britt, we can go home right now."

"No, I want to go, but what if I can't handle being in there? What if I can never come back here?" Tears threatened to fall so Santana stepped in, "hey listen to me ok, I will be right there with you all night and if you decided that you can't be here anymore then we will find a place that you can feel safe ok."

"You'd follow me right, if I left?"

"I'd follow you to the ends of the earth. But for right now I'm here with you, Quinn and Rachel and everyone else is in there to support us, we aren't doing this alone Britt."

"Ok, I think I'd like to go inside now." Santana smiled and walked over to the passenger side door and helped Brittany out as it still hurt for her to get in and out of the car. They walked to the front door and Santana waited for Brittany to give her the ok before she opened it. They slowly walked down the hallway hand in hand, slowly taking in what had changed in the last few weeks. New lockers had been added to replace the ones that had bullets in them, new trophy cases to replace the broken ones and new security checkpoints.

"Where is everyone else? You said Quinn and Rachel were here."

"I did, they are waiting near the choir room for us." Brittany's grip tightened around Santana's hand just at the very thought of the choir room. "Britt, we do not have to go in there, not tonight, not ever. It's your call, I'll go in if you want to."

"I have to face it at some point Sanny, I just, I didn't think I'd be this scared. I know nothing will happen to me but I just keeping feeling like I did that day and I hate feeling that scared."

"Britt look at me, I will not let go of you the entire time we are in there ok, nothing and no one will hurt you while we are in there ok and if you feel like crying, do it. Holding in emotions is how we get complexes." Brittany managed to crack a slight smile. They walked to the choir room and as they neared Brittany could see the rest of the Glee club waiting in the hall.

"Why are you guys all out here?"

"We wanted to give you and Santana a minute alone before we all went in." Finn shrugged his shoulders and smiled that stupid smile he always had on his face. Santana was grateful for that because she knew that last thing Brittany needed was an audience to whatever emotion was going to come up when they walked into that room. Brittany stood at the door to the choir room and paused with her hand on the door knob.

"Britt, are you sure you want to do this? There are an awful lot of memories in that room and you don't have to face them all right now."

"If I don't face them now then those memories become ghosts and they'll haunt me; I'd rather face them now and start to deal with them then pretend that they don't exist and have them consume my life." Santana nodded, "what can I do to help?"

"Can I go in alone first?"

"Are you sure Britt?"

"I'm sure."

"Ok, I'm right outside if you need me, ok, right here on the other side of the door." Brittany nodded, she knew Santana was there for her. Santana opened the door for her and let Brittany step inside. Brittany walked over to the white board and ran her fingers across it; she walked around the perimeter of the room and around the chairs. She eventually came to stand still in the center of the room, right where she had fallen after being shot. Santana and the other Glee members watched her closely as she starred at the floor in front of her showing almost no sign of distress or emotion, but that quickly changed. Tears slowly started trickling down her face and she didn't even bother to wipe them away. Santana waited for a moment, not sure what to do; should she go in or stay. She answered her own question when she could see Brittany's chest visibly shake as she cried. Santana knew that every emotion was hitting Brittany at once and it was over whelming her, so she quickly threw open the door and rushed inside. She appeared at Brittany's side just in time to catch her around her waist as her legs seemed to give out. Their friends watched as Brittany clung desperately to Santana as she cried, eventually they both settled on the floor and Santana cradled Brittany close and started to rock her back and forth in an effort to soot her. The rest of the group slowly and silently made their way inside and stood around the two girls.

They all had tears in their eyes; walking back into that room was a lot to handle for everyone and watching Brittany fall apart was hell on everyone to see. Santana rubbed her back and as she brushed away her own tears she hummed a tune and as it seemed to help Brittany she kept doing it until she found herself singing.

_Watch your step, love is broken  
I am every tear you cry  
Save your breath, your heart has spoken  
You already have my life_

For I am finding out that love will kill and save me  
Taking the dreams that made me up  
And tearing them away  
But the same love will take this heart that's barely beating  
And fill it with hope beyond the stars  
Only love

Brittany looked up at Santana and brushed away the tears from her eyes and laid her head against her girlfriend's chest as she continued to sing.__

Another day, another sunrise  
Washing over everything  
In its time, love will be mine  
The beauty and the tragedy

For I am finding out that love will kill and save me  
Taking the dreams that made me up  
And tearing them away  
But the same love will take this heart that's barely beating  
And fill it with hope beyond the stars  
Only love  
Only love, love, love

For I am finding out that love will kill and save me

As Santana stopped singing Brittany looked up at her and smiled, "thanks baby, I think everything just hit me at once and I just had to cry."

"How do you feel now?"

"Much better, still sad, but I can deal with all of this now, I know I can; it will just take time." Everyone seemed to think the same thing because the tears subsided, the girls reapplied makeup and soon everyone sat down in one of the chairs in the room. They sat in silence until Santana pointed something out, "they replaced the floor, like the entire thing."

Puck nodded, "Mr. Shue said that Sue paid for the whole room to be re-floored as well as the gym, she said no one should have to relive what happened that day just because the school didn't want to replace the flooring."

"This room will never be the same will it." Rachel observed and everyone grew quiet again."

"No, we will make it better." Brittany offered, "look guys it will take time for us to get over what happened in here that day and it may never happen, but I know we can get to a point where we can come in here and enjoy this space the way we used to. I for one am not going to let one nightmare ruin the good memories we have made in here. We can let our past drive us, but we can't let it drive us crazy."

"Brittany is right; we'll find our groove again next year." Tina smiled and the others seemed to agree. They chatted for a while when the door opened and Mr. Shue walked in. He looked at his students all dressed up in dresses and suits and he looked like a proud parent.

"How you guys doing?"

"Were going to be ok Mr. Shue." Quinn assured her teacher and everyone nodded.

"Glad to hear you guys. People are starting to show up so we should probably head out there when you all are ready." Everyone stood up and started filling out the door. Brittany stood alone in the room for a moment and lightly kicked the ground that weeks before she laid on bleeding to death. Under her breath she whispered, "J'ai enterrer les fantômes du passé et d'embrasser l'avenir." She smiled as she walked out the door and once again joined hands with Santana.

They walked into the gym and when people spotted Brittany it was like the parting of the red sea as they walked through the tables and crowd of people. Santana and Brittany were seated at the mayor's table while the rest of the glee club found their seats a few tables away. When the mayor arrived both Santana and Brittany were caught up in whirlwind of pictures and interviews. After that was over everyone sat down to dinner which was only interrupted when the speeches began.

Principal Figgins stood up and spoke very eloquently about the tragedy. He explained the fundraiser and where the money was going to go to. As he sat down the mayor was introduced and she stood and approached the microphone. She spoke briefly and beautifully about what happened at the school only weeks before; she credited the teachers for acting quickly, the administration for the same thing and the student who followed procedure. She offered sympathy to the grieving families and presented a check to go towards the money being raised for their funerals. Then she got to the part Santana wasn't looking forward too.

"Ladies and gentlemen in the middle of this senseless tragedy two young women stood out among their peers and proved just how strong the tie of friendship can be. When everyone else had made it out of the building several students and one teacher were all still stuck inside. They found their way to each other, but sadly so did the gun man. That day in the choir room of this school, two young ladies stood up for their friends and risked their lives doing it. Ms. Pierce if you could stand up please." Santana helped Brittany stand up and then quickly sat back down. "Brittany did something that day that would change her life forever and almost ended it. When her friend was in danger of being shot she pushed her out of the way and in the process was hit with the bullet herself. As if that weren't enough as she lay on the floor bleeding she managed to trip her girlfriend and effectively get her out of the way of another bullet. Ms. Pierce spent a week in a medically induced coma after her heart stopped prior to her going into surgery. To say it is a miracle for her to be alive is an understatement. Her selfless act of bravery saved dozens of lives and is the true embodiment of a hero." The whole room clapped and cheered wildly and the glee club was on their feet.

"Not to be out done, Ms. Lopez, the other hero of our story and one of the young ladies saved by Brittany also showed incredible bravery in the face of true terror. She negotiated the release of one of her friends and then convinced the gun man to let her take her girlfriend outside to receive medical attention. She then grabbed a firearm and returned to the school where she sadly had to end a standoff with the gun by firing her own gun, but in doing so she saved the life of her teacher." Again the cheering and clapping continued as Santana stood up and both she and Brittany sat down.

"Tonight I'd like to award these two young ladies for their actions so please Brittany, Santana join me up here." Santana helped Brittany to her feet and they walked up the stairs of the stage together and stood next to the mayor. She placed a medal around each of their necks and handed them a small plaque. She motioned for them to say something and Santana went first.

"Look everyone I'm no hero, I did what I had to protect the people who I consider family. To me that's not heroism, it's just another typical day. I had to end a life that day and I pray for that boy everyday because as mad as everyone is, he was a human being that deserves basic human respect even in death. I'm sorry to the families who have to bury your children and I wish I could have stopped you from having to feel this pain. If you want to honor a hero she is standing right behind me. Britt saved us all, not just me and Quinn. I don't deserve this medal, but she does. In the bible it says 'Greater love has no one than this, that he lay down his life for his friends'. That day Brittany showed the ultimate love by what she did, what she was willing to do. Your have always been my hero, but I think I can handle sharing you with other people." With a smile and a wink Santana took the medal off her neck and placed it over the one Brittany already had one. With a quick kiss Santana stood back and started clapping and soon the whole room was on their feet and thunderous applause filled the room. Brittany was blushing hard, but she smiled and walked over to the microphone.

"Thank you everyone and for what it's worth I don't think I'm a hero either. What I did that day was take care of my family, that's all. I'm sorry so many people got hurt and died and I wish I could change that, but sadly I can't. The loss of so many young lives is tragic and those who died that day will not be soon forgotten. The way people have been talking about me, they act as if I worked alone that day, but my family was in that room with me helping me to survive. Quinn and Mr. Shue tried to stop the bleeding, Puck tried to keep Santana calm, the other continued to try to think of a way out. If I had died that day I would have died in the arms of people who love me and surrounded by my family and I can think of worse ways to leaves this earth. I'm incredibly blessed and lucky because I have a second chance at life and as easy as it would be to be crippled by fear and emotion I'd like to take a different approach. I was watching a movie last night and at one point there is a quote that I feel applies here, "When the storm breaks, each man acts in accordance with his own nature. Some are dumb with terror. Some flee. Some hide. And some spread their wings like eagles and soar on the wind." It would be very easy for me to hide in my house forever with my girlfriend and never face the world again, but I won't. I want to experience the good in this world so that I can erase the memory of the bad; I want to live my life to the very fullest for myself, my partner and for those who lives were taken from them far too soon. I don't think what I did was heroic, I just…I just didn't want anyone else to get hurt. Thank you for this award, though I'm sure I don't deserve it." With that Brittany stepped back and prompt wrapped her arms around Santana who kissed her and held her close as they both continued to cry. The glee club was practically sobbing and no one in that room had a dry eye; no one knew Brittany was so deep and profound.

The girls sat down and the mayor took the mic again. "Thank you ladies, for those beautiful words. Everyone before we wrap this evening up the glee club will perform for us and please if you can donate to the memorial fund." The mayor handed a still teary eyed Mr. Shue the mic as the kids got into place. When they were in formation including Brittany and Santana the music started.

_There's no one in town I know  
You gave us some place to go.  
I never said thank you for that.  
I thought I might get one more chance._

_What would you think of me now,  
so lucky, so strong, so proud?  
I never said thank you for that,  
now I'll never have a chance._

_May angels lead you in.  
Hear you me my friends.  
On sleepless roads the sleepless go.  
May angels lead you in._

_So what would you think of me now,  
so lucky, so strong, so proud?  
I never said thank you for that,  
now I'll never have a chance._

_May angels lead you in.  
Hear you me my friends.  
On sleepless roads the sleepless go.  
May angels lead you in.  
May angels lead you in.  
May angels lead you in._

_And if you were with me tonight,  
I'd sing to you just one more time.  
A song for a heart so big,  
god wouldn't let it live._

_May angels lead you in.  
Hear you me my friends.  
On sleepless roads the sleepless go.  
May angels lead you in.  
May angels lead you in.  
Hear you me my friends.  
On sleepless roads the sleepless go.  
May angels lead you in.  
May angels lead you in._

**So I hope you all didn't cry to hard. The songs were by Trading yesterday and On The Rocks version of Hear you Me. Please review and let me know what you thought. And the translation is "I leave the ghosts of the past and embrace the future. Night everyone.**


	27. Those Eyes

Summer was in full swing in Lima and Brittany had finally gotten to the point in her healing that she was moving around on her own without pain and no longer had any stitches making it hard to move. Her scar was visible; they both knew it would never go away, but Santana assured Brittany that scars were super sexy. This day in particular the girls were outside sun bathing because Brittany was certain she looked like a ghost she was so pale. They had pushed two patio chair close together and laid out in the sun and not surprisingly fell asleep and only woke up long enough to turn over. Angela watched from the kitchen and smiled, a lazy summer was exactly what the girls both needed after how the school year had ended. She was shaken from her thoughts when the door bell rang. She dried her hands quickly and went to answer the door and when she did the older woman on the other side looked familiar, but she wasn't sure why.

"Can I help you?"

"Yes I was told that Brittany was living here now and I was wondering if I could see her."

"Can I ask who you are ma'am?"

"Of course, my goodness I apologize, I'm Brittany's grandmother, that dumb ass I am forced by genetics to call my son is her father."

"Mrs. Pierce please come in." Angela moved so the women could come inside. They sat down in the living room and an uncomfortable silence fell over the room. Eventually Angela spoke, "Ms. Pierce?"

"Please call me Elizabeth."

"Elizabeth, I don't mean to sound rude, but what are you doing here?"

"I would have come sooner if I had known what was going on. You see my husband and I live on the West Coast now and for years my son has refused contact with us, so whenever I get updates, its second hand and it tends to be delayed. My other son heard what had happened at Brittany's school and called me and when I heard she had been seriously injured I got on the first plane out. I do apologize, if I had known I would have come so much sooner." Angela smiled, "I understand and I'm sorry you had to find out this way, but can I ask you a question? You know that Brittany lives here now correct?"

"That is what my other son Alex told me yes."

"Do you know why?" Angela wasn't sure if she should tell the old woman or go get Brittany.

"I assume she got fed up and left, I don't know what happened, but somewhere along the way Roger became a very hateful man and after that no one could reach him and Brittany and he never saw eye to eye."

"Elizabeth, she didn't leave, your son and his wife threw her out."

"Why on earth would they do that?"

"I think that might be something for her to tell you, let me just go wake them up." Angela pointed outside.

"I'm sorry them?" Elizabeth looked outside to where the girls were still fast asleep in the sun, pinkies linked.

"My daughter Santana goes to school with Brittany and she and Brittany are uh, well they are…" Angela was lost for what to say, she had become used to saying that the girls were girlfriends or partners, but she wasn't sure if she had the right to say so to Brittany's grandmother.

"They are dating aren't they? My granddaughter is dating your daughter." She said the last sentence as if it was fact, not a question.

"Yes, how did you know that?" Elizabeth smiled and pointed outside to the girls. "She's been doing that pinkie thing since she was a baby, we never knew why. As she grew up she continued to do it and one day I asked her why she never held hands, only pinkies and she said it's a test. She said it easy to hold someone's hand, hands are strong, but if you love someone, truly love someone and they love you…" Elizabeth was interrupted by a familiar voice.

"All you need is the strength of your little finger to keep them close to you." Angela looked up and there was Santana still in her bikini holding a bottle of water in her hand. Elizabeth nodded and smiled, "why anyone ever thought that girl was stupid is beyond me and if you know so much about her that must make you Santana."

"That's me and that brings me to the question of who you are."

"Santana don't be rude."

"No, no I understand, the girl has a right to protect what is her's. Santana I doubt Brittany has mentioned me that much, but…"

"You're her grandmother."

"Yes, how did you know that?"

Santana smiled, "We've been best friends since we were babies, I've seen every photo album she owns a million times and you are in a lot of the ones from her youth, that and she has your eyes and if there is one thing on this earth I know, it's those eyes. She always talks about spending time with you and your husband and how happy she was with you."

"It seems to me like she has found someone else to make her happy these days."

Santana blushed slightly, "Are you mad?"

"I never understand how anyone could be mad at two people being in love. I'm thrilled that Brittany has you and clearly there is more to this love story and I'd love to hear it all." Santana smiled, "then I should go wake her up, you should hear it from her."

"Santana? Before you bring her in, I have to say one thing. I may not know the whole story, but from what I do know, I have to apologize for my son's actions. That man who threw his eldest kid out and hurt her is not the boy I raised." Elizabeth looked like she was going to cry so Santana went over and hugged her.

"I've met your other children and they are wonderful people so please don't think I blame you for how Roger turned out."

"You're a very forgiving young lady."

"Oh make no mistake ma'am, if I ever meet your son in a dark alley he will not get lucky for a third time with me, I'll kill him this time, but his actions and his choices are his own, you aren't to be blamed for his dark soul." Santana walked back outside and rubbed Brittany's now slightly less pale body in an effort to wake her up.

"I'm sleeping." Santana laughed, "Fine, but there is someone inside waiting to see you."

"Who is it?"

"Come inside and find out." Santana handed her a tank top and shorts which she threw over her bikini and Santana did the same and once they were both dressed again Santana opened the door and pulled Brittany into the house. Brittany wasn't paying attention at first and when she finally looked up her mouth twitched up into a smile, "Grandma?"

"How's my little duckling doing?" Brittany practically ran through the kitchen and into the living where she was quickly hugged tightly by her grandmother.

Brittany turned to Santana beaming, "Sanny this is my grandma." Brittany looked like someone just gave her Christmas.

"I know baby, we met." Santana gave Brittany a quick kiss before turning to her mother, "mom and I are going to give you guys some time alone to talk ok."

"No, I want you to stay." Santana nodded and sat down on the couch and Brittany settled in next to her while Angela went into the kitchen to give them some form of privacy. Brittany started talking about the things her grandmother had missed out of since their last visit which had been several years ago. When they got to present day events, Brittany looked to Santana as if to get a little push to continue and Santana nodded and held Brittany's hand a little tighter. She told her grandmother all about what happened with her father and being kicked out, sleeping in her car with Santana and Quinn and having him come after her and Santana not once, but twice. As she spoke she naturally started to move closer and closer to Santana until she was basically in her lap. When she started talking about the shooting she managed to finish before she started crying. Santana started rocking her lightly and quickly started put Brittany's hand over her heart and that seemed to calm her down like it always did. She let Brittany cry for a little bit and after a few minutes she seemed to start to settle down.

She turned back to her grandmother, "I'm sorry, you didn't need to hear all of that and hear me cry."

"Don't you dare apologize to me, I'm sorry you had to go through all of that without your family, well at least without blood relatives, it's pretty clear that you had your family around you." Santana was glad that Elizabeth saw that the Glee kids were family to each other and that Santana's family was Brittany's family. Brittany got up from Santana's lap and went over to her grandmother and gave the woman a hug that they both clearly needed. Santana took this moment to run upstairs and grab Herbert off Brittany's bed. She brought the stuffed animal downstairs and handed it to Brittany who was back on the couch talking to her grandma about something far more pleasant.

"Elizabeth, would you like to stay for dinner?" Angela poked her head in from the kitchen.

"I'd love too." Britt, Santana and Elizabeth walked into kitchen to help Angela finish the meal and set the table.

**So school is starting on Monday and its senior year of college for me so updates may come slower, but don't stress I know where this story is going so just keep reviewing and I'll keep writing. Thank everyone.**


	28. Old People Are The Coolest

**Senior year is in full swing so this is short, but I wanted to update, enjoy.**

As Angela set the table for dinner Santana watched Brittany talk to her grandma. Angela handed Santana the silverware and that seemed to break her focus. "You don't have to guard her you know, it's her grandmother, not a stranger."

Santana shrugged, "Hard habit to break I guess."

"Brittany seems happy."

"She always happy, but seeing Liz seems to have made her ever happier than usual."

"Why don't you fetch them for dinner and tell your brother to come down." Santana went upstairs to get her brother and when she returned she told the two women that food was ready. Brittany jumped up and walked hand in hand with Santana into the dining room. Liz followed them and took her seat next to Santana's brother. She watched Brittany and Santana holding hands and giggling at something Brittany had said. She smiled; they looked like a married couple the way the carried on with each other. They started eating and Liz started to get to know Santana better.

"Now Santana tell me, what schools are you looking at?"

"A few out west and a few in New York, trying to get a varied mix." Truthfully Santana knew exactly where she wanted to go for college, but she was keeping that to herself, for now anyway.

"You know my husband and I have been thinking about moving to NY, perhaps we could visit you more often that way." Santana beamed, "We would really like that." Liz smiled; they were already a 'we'. They spent dinner talking about school and eventually Liz started telling stories about Brittany and family stories from her youth. Between Liz and Santana the next hour was spent talking about Brittany and telling stories that made her blush, but seeing her girlfriend and grandmother get along so well was well worth it.

After dinner Brittany went upstairs to take her meds. Santana followed her up a few minutes later only to find Brittany asleep; her pain meds always seemed to make her sleepy. She watched Brittany and she slept and soon she felt a hand on her shoulder.

"I came up to say goodnight, I should head back to the hotel."

"She'll be upset she missed you."

"I'll be back tomorrow, besides she has you and that appears to be enough. You really love her don't you?"

"Very much so."

"It shows; she's lucky to have you dear."

"I'm lucky she puts up with me."

"When Brittany was very young she used to go through my old clothes and she always ended up trying to wear my wedding dress. She would tell me all about her dream wedding and I would do her make up." Santana laughed a little, "Not that I don't love hearing about Britt, but why are you telling me this?"

"You're her future dear, you should know all of her past."

"You've only known me for 4 hours, how do you know all that?" Liz took her hand and smiled, "because the way she looks at you is the same way I look at my husband to this day. Be thankful that you found your forever so young." Liz turned to leave. "And Santana when you need them, as the oldest grandchild Brittany has these coming to her, maybe you can find a use for them." Liz fiddled with her finger and tossed two rings at Santana. Santana caught them both and looked at the two rings, the two huge rings, one engagement ring and one wedding ring."

"Liz I can't take these from you."

"Like hell you can't. Honey diamonds aren't going to help me get to heaven and once I'm there I won't need them. I have my husband, I don't need those rings anymore, besides she was going to get them anyway, but now they are yours to give to her as you wish."

"Ok, but I was planning on buying her engagement ring myself when the time came, but the wedding ring is perfect."

"They are both yours; maybe you give the other one to your daughter some day. Just something to think about."

"I was thinking, with Britt feeling better and the summer being super boring here, maybe I could bring Britt Britt out to California to visit with you guys."

"I would love that and my husband and I would love to have you. Tell me when you want to leave and I'll have my travel agent set everything up."

"Liz we can find our own way there…"

"I will not hear of it, I will take care of it all just leave it to me. Now I'm old and tired so I'm going to head out, but I will see you again before I leave and tell Brittany I will be back tomorrow. Goodnight Santana."

"Night Liz." As liz walked back downstairs and Santana turned back towards Brittany, she clutched the rings in her hand and smiled; old people were the coolest.

**Reviews are love.**


	29. California Gurls

**I'm sorry for the wait but school and work have been crazy busy. Please forgive me and leave reviews. Enjoy.**

Liz stayed for a few days more before going back home to California, but before she left she made sure that Santana and Brittany had two first class tickets to California in their hands courtesy of her travel agent. The girls had made plans to go spend a week in California the follow week, hoping that Brittany would be more fully healed by then and traveling would be easier. Their flight left early in the morning because for whatever reason Brittany was a morning person and insisted they leave as early as they could. Angela dropped them off at the airport and after making their way through security and to the gate Santana collapsed into a chair and shut her eyes hoping to sleep for a little bit before they got on the plane only to be jolted awake by the loud speaker. They boarded their plane and soon Santana was really happy that Elizabeth had paid for their tickets because first class was so much nicer than coach. One transfer in Texas and soon the girls found themselves making a final decent into SFO. Brittany was shaking Santana like an excited kid on Christmas and Santana kept trying to go back to sleep, but soon she woke up completely and watched as they landed in San Francisco.

Once they made it off the plane they slowly made their way to baggage claim to stand around waiting for the luggage to start coming out. Santana reached down to grab her bag and was soon just waiting for Brittany's. As she bent down to retrieve the last bag she heard Brittany yell someone's name and take of running. When she stood up with the second suitcase in hand she saw Brittany hugging her grandmother who was standing next to woman who Santana assumed to be Brittany's aunt just based on the fact that she looked exactly like Brittany but older. Santana rolled both suitcases over to where the women were standing and Elizabeth gave her the same greeting she had given Brittany by scooping her up into a big hug.

"Santana I know you've met my sons before, but I don't think you ever met my daughter, Eliza, Liza this is Brittany's girlfriend." Santana turned to the other blonde woman and extended her hand, a gesture that was ignored when Eliza pushed the hand away only to hug Santana just a little bit harder than necessary. "I have heard such amazing things about you young lady, it's so nice to finally meet the woman who has made Brittany so happy."

Santana smiled, "well it's nice to see everyone in your family likes to hug as much as Britt Britt does." Eliza let go of her and cracked a big smile, "that's so cute mom they have pet names for each other. Can I take one of those bags for you?"

"No it's ok, I mean they have wheels so they aren't hard to move or anything. Which way to the car?"

"The car is waiting just outside for us; I made your uncle drive us because parking here is just terrible."

"You guys didn't have to do that; we could have gotten a cab."

"Nonsense, your family and you deserve to be greeted at the airport like family. Besides it forces my husband to leave the house and do something helpful." Eliza smiled and pointed to where her husband had parked the car. As the women got closer to the SUV a man a little bit younger than Brittany's dad stepped out of the car and grabbed one of the suitcases from Santana and put it in the car. Before he grabbed the other suitcase he stuck out his hand towards Santana, "you must be Santana, I'm Nick, Brittany's uncle." Santana shook the man's hand and put the second bag in the car before helping Brittany into the car and settling in. The whole drive to Brittany's house her aunt, uncle and grandmother were telling them about all the places they wanted to take the girls and basically gave them a brief tour of the bay area. After driving for about 30 minutes they got off the freeway and entered the same town that Brittany's grandparents lived in. They passed houses that Santana was sure cost at least a million dollars if not more. When they pulled into the driveway there was quite a few other cars and Brittany looked at her grandmother with a perplexed look.

"Grandma?"

"So maybe I told the family you were coming to visit and they decided to have a party for you." The older woman smiled and Santana realized the smile she found impossible to say no to is in fact hereditary (she was so screwed when they had children). Brittany didn't mind, she loved any excuse to party and she hadn't seen this side of her family since she was 6. Santana however, became very nervous; her girlfriend's entire family was about to meet her, what if they hated her, what if they thought she wasn't good enough for their family or for Brittany? She didn't have much time to process it because the car stopped moving and Brittany was pulling her out. Nick walked in the house first with a suitcase in each hand and he and Eliza went to put their bags away for them. Elizabeth walked in and waved for the girls to follow her. Brittany practically ran after her grandmother and you could hear the yelling and cheering when she entered the house. Elizabeth saw Santana hesitate and walked over to her, "they're going to love you, they already do."

"They haven't even met me."

"Your act of heroism precedes you."

"I'm not a hero."

"The hell you're not. You listen to me and you listen good. If you hadn't done what you did, I would have lost my eldest grandchild and this family would be missing a huge piece of who we are. Instead of losing Brittany we gained you, so you'll excuse this old lady if I say you're a hero in my eyes. Now come on, no use putting off the inevitable, besides you've met most of these folks before." They walked in the front door and Santana took a deep breath, "yeah, but I was like 13 years old and…" Before she could finish the sentence someone had pulled her into a very tight hug…apparently that was hereditary also. When she was released Santana saw that it was Brittany's other uncle.

"This can't be Santana, Santana is a little 13 year old with braces." Santana smiled and hugged the man back. "Hi Eric."

"So all it took was mom flying out to Ohio to get you both out here huh. If we had known that we would have done it ages ago."

"Well we are here now, hoping that California summers are more interesting than Ohio ones."

"When you're with this family it's never a dull moment."

Santana laughed, "I noticed, now you going to give me a list of names because I see face who I have never encountered before." Eric stepped aside and Santana could now see that Brittany's family had gotten bigger in the last 4 years. "Now you remember my wife Trisha and our boys Michael and Joseph. My sister Melissa and her husband Stephan , their kids Thomas and Amanda who are outside with Nick and Eliza's daughter Maggie. And last but not least my brother Morgan and his wife, who you've never met, Jane and that bubbly baby that Brittany has in her lap is our newest addition Julianna." Santana looked over and Brittany was playing with the baby and they both had huge smiles on their faces. Santana greeted everyone and was introduced to Jane and started to talk with everyone while Brittany busied herself with the baby. Elizabeth returned to the kitchen with the man that Santana could only assume was Brittany's grandfather. She walked right up to him and stuck her hand out, "it's nice to meet you Mr. Pierce I'm Santana." The man smiled and like everyone else pushed past the outstretched hand and gave Santana a hug, but his was much more gentle and almost desperate.

"Thank you for bringing her back to me, I haven't seen her since she was a little girl and I almost lost her but you brought her back to me and for that you will always have a place in my family and in my home." Santana was honestly speechless and moved to tears, "it was my pleasure sir."

"None of that Sir stuff, you call me Victor or grandpa, your choice." Nick jumped in, "no fair, you didn't let me call you dad or Victor until Maggie was born."

"That's true, I must like her more." Victor smiled and winked at Santana who laughed. "Come on everyone the food is ready outside by the pool." Brittany stood up and handed the baby back to her mother and quickly grabbed hold of Santana's hand as they walked outside. Everyone grabbed food and went back to talking. Everyone asked Brittany and Santana questions about school and their lives in general. After the food was long forgotten Brittany was talking to her aunts while Santana ran around the yard with a water gun in her hand playing with the younger kids. Brittany smiled when she saw Santana getting along so well with her cousins and for a second she got to imagine how she would be with their children in the future. When Santana had clearly been beaten the kids all begged to get into the pool. Santana agreed to go in with them so the adults all said ok. Santana went inside to change and so did Brittany. When they came back outside Brittany was wearing a tshirt over her bikini. Santana noticed and asked her about it.

"Aren't you coming in babe?"

"Yeah I'm coming."

"Are you going to take your shirt off?"

"I don't want people to see it." Brittany said it almost so softly that Santana could barely hear it.

"Your scar." Brittany nodded. Santana paused and after looking around she reached for the hem of Brittany's shirt. "Do you trust me?"

"You know I do." Santana slowly took the shirt off and threw it on a chair and without caring who saw she bent down and kissed the scar tissue that marked where the bullet went in. When she came back up to eye level she put her hand over the scar, "this doesn't define you ok? This isn't ugly or anything like that. This is just a scar, that's it, it doesn't have to mean anything more than that. Scars mean you survived something baby, they show strength and they are beautiful. You're beautiful, ok, don't ever forget that." She gave Brittany and quick kiss and the two of them jumped into the pool and for the rest of the afternoon the scar and the story behind it was forgotten.


	30. Mine

**So I realized that I had made Elizabeth say that one of her sons' names was Alex and I changed it to Eric, my bad. So his name is now Eric. Sorry for the delay folks school is trying to make me cry and so is grad school apps. Review for more.**

Santana was watching Brittany play with younger kids in the living room: they had wanted to build a fort out of blankets and pillows and Brittany was more than happy to help. Santana leaned against the doorway watching as her girlfriend anchored blankets down with large pillows as the little kids tried to do the same with limited success. She was completely focused on her girlfriend and that focus was only broken when she heard a voice coming from beside her.

"She always love being the oldest, she loved playing with the younger kids." Melissa leaned against the other side of the doorway.

"Britt is a big kid; she's probably having more fun than they are."

"Probably." The older woman laughed and smiled, and then an awkward silence fell over them.

"Is this where you ask me what my intentions are toward your niece?"

"Do I need to?" Melissa had a pretty good idea what Santana's intentions were.

Santana shook her head and smiled, "I love her, my intention is to love her for as long as she'll put up with me."

"Aren't you a little young to be talking about loving someone forever?"

"I've never known a time without her in my life and when I almost lost her it broke my heart, she is my forever." Santana looked up to see Brittany holding Joseph in her lap as they watched a movie from their fort.

"I always knew you two would end up together. When you were little you would walk around the yard and pretend to be married. If memory serves my brother had an issue with it then too." Melissa quickly regretted mentioning Roger. "Santana I'm sorry, I shouldn't have said anything…my brother is an ass and just know that no else in this family thinks the way he does." Santana waved her hand to calm Melissa down, "it's ok, you don't need to apologize for him."

"Someone has too." Melissa looked guilty and Santana felt bad.

"Your family has always been wonderful to me, Roger is the unfortunate exception. He is a grown ass man who made his decision about me and Britt and you guys have no part in what happened. You have nothing to be sorry for, ok? We just try and forget about it and put it behind us because after the shooting we made it a point to try and push him out of our thoughts; we had bigger issues to deal with. We have a therapist to help us out and our friends at school and family. We know that we have people who love us and we're our own family so as far as I'm concerned Roger is just another bump in the road."

"As long as that family of yours includes the rest of us, I'm a big fan of that plan."

"Are you high, of course it includes you guys, can't have my children growing up without a bunch of crazy aunts and uncles now can I?"

Melissa smiled, "I think you'll make a great mom, both of you will."

"I can't wait to have mini-Britts running around, but I think we're gonna wait till after college if that's ok with you."

"I guess I can live with that." The conversation was cut short when Santana was practically tackled by Joseph. "Will you come watch the movie with us Santa?"

Melissa tried to correct her son, "its Santana honey."

"That's what I said, Santa. So will you please?" The six year old smiled big and Santana was gone.

"I would love to, but do you think someone could help me make the popcorn, can't have a movie without popcorn right?"

"Can I help you?"

"You were my first choice as a helper. Come on buddy." The little boy took her hand and they went into the kitchen. They emerged about 5 minutes later and Santana had a large bowl of popcorn in one hand and the little boy in the other. She settled in next to Brittany and popped a few kernels in her mouth. They watched the movie ad thankfully everyone had fallen asleep so Santana didn't cry at the end of the movie…damn Toy Story 3. When Melissa and the other adults came into check on the kids they all thought about moving the kids but that proved to be impossible. Santana was on her back with one arm around Brittany and another around Joseph. Maggie and Amanda were snuggled into Santana's sides and Thomas managed to somehow fall asleep lying on top of Santana's legs. Melissa tried to reach for her son so they could at least try to move them into their beds for the night. The second her hand touched her son's shoulder Santana tightened her grip on both Joseph and Brittany and while still asleep she mumbled 'mine' before she turned her head so that she was now facing Brittany. The adults found that to be both funny and incredibly sweet; even while she sleeps Santana was protective of Brittany and evidently she's protective of the rest of her family now too. They took pictures because it was too cute not to and then they left the kids to sleep in the living room.

The next morning Santana woke up and immediately regretted sleeping on the floor because her back was killing her. When she looked around her she realized that she was alone in the living room so she got up and cracked her back before walking into the kitchen where Jane, Eliza, Trisha and Elizabeth were all sitting at the table drinking coffee. Trisha looked up, "look who finally woke up, want some coffee."

"Please." Santana sat down next to Eliza and tried to crack her back again. She took a sip of the coffee Trisha handed her and sighed heavy. "That floor is not comfortable to sleep on without a pillow or something to support your back."

"That would have been helpful information before I passed out on it or before I got used as a human pillow."

"We did try to move them off you, but you kind of wouldn't let us." Melissa offered.

"What do you mean I wouldn't let you?"

"You tightened your grip on Joseph and Brittany and wouldn't let us take any of the kids. When we tried you mumbled something about them being yours, so we figured it best to leave them there."

"Sorry." Santana didn't know she was that protective in her sleep.

"Don't be, it was cute, and reassuring, at least we know how protective you are even when you aren't awake." Jane winked at her.

"Speaking of Brittany, where is she and the rest of the ankle bitters?"

"We made our husbands take them to the store to get groceries for the week."

"Wanted me all to yourselves?" Santana batted her eyelashes.

"Something like that." Santana was super confused, what did they want to talk about.

"What's up, I mean you already gave your wedding ring isn't that the telling sign of a familial approval."

"Mom, you already gave her the rings?"

"What, we know they are going to get married and besides I don't need them." Elizabeth defended her actions.

"Mom, you don't just give an 18 year wedding rings."

"Why not, she already has a ring in mind for an engagement ring; I'm just helping her out." The other women turned to Santana, "you already have a ring picked out?" Jane was a little surprised as where they all.

"It's not like I bought it or anything, I just know what Brittany wants and I know I'm gonna get it for her."

"Sap." Melissa coughed out.

"You know it." Santana smirked. "But for real, what did you want to talk about?"

"We wanted to give you this." Elizabeth handed Santana an envelope. When she opened the envelope she was shocked; there was money in it, a lot of money.

"Liz, I can't take this from you and I don't even know what its' for."

"You said you wanted to buy your own engagement ring and they aren't cheap, this is a little bit of help for when you do decide the time is right."

"Liz, this is way more than a little bit of help, I can't take this from you. Besides I want this to be something I earn. I want to work for it and get the money and go into a store and pick the perfect ring for her. I want all of that to come from me." Liz wasn't surprised that Santana didn't want the money, but they didn't mean she was going to take it back. "Santana, honey, take the money; put it in a bank account if you don't want it now. Let it earn some interest and if you don't want to use it for the ring then use it as a nest egg for when you two are off on your own." Santana knew this wasn't gonna be a fight she would win, so she nodded and took the money and put in her carry-on luggage, she would put it in the bank before they went home.

After she showered and got dressed she came back downstairs and it was clear that everyone was back from the store. It was a mess in the kitchen with everyone trying to put stuff away, but Santana managed to fight her way through to Brittany who was sitting down playing with the baby. Santana leaned over and gave her a quick kiss, "I woke up and you were gone."

"I wanted to go and make sure we got food that you like to eat and you were super asleep." Brittany spoke in a baby voice which made Julianna laughed. "Well you know how to wake me up." Santana kissed her behind her ear. "Yes I do, but my aunts were in the next room and I think they would have frowned upon us doing that in the living room."

"Party pooper." Brittany stuck out her tongue and for whatever reason Julianna started to fuss and no matter what Brittany did, she wouldn't stop. Fussing turned into crying and soon everyone knew that the baby was not happy. Jane reached for the baby and Brittany handed her over, but even having her mother hold her wasn't making the crying stop. Santana stood up and held out her arms to Jane, "mind if I try?"

"By all means, she's teething so nothing really calms her down quickly." Santana took the now screaming baby and grabbed a carrot out of the fridge and walked into the living room. "Ok Julie, let's see what we can do about those teeth." Santana looked inside the baby's mouth and sure enough there were two teeth starting to poke through on the bottom row of her jaw. Santana put the carrot there for a few minutes and that seemed to ease the pain a little bit, but the baby was still crying pretty hard. Santana threw the carrot away and held the baby tight to her chest.

"I know, I know, life is so hard for you right now. I mean you're what like 9 months old and your only job is to look cute and sleep. Life is rough for you kid. But I bet those teeth coming in is no fun, right. Well, you tell those dumb teeth that your cousin is gonna go all Lima Heights on them if they don't cut it out, ok? That should scare them." The baby was starting to calm down and was now just kind of whimpering. "You know what, I bet you're gonna grow up to be just as beautiful as your cousin Brittany and the boys, maybe even a few girls, are gonna fall all over themselves. Well you leave them there, wherever they fall, ok, but one day you'll find one that is worth stopping for and your life will never be the same again." The baby made a small squeaking noise and Santana laughed, "I know it's a crazy idea, but trust me it will make sense when you're older. I mean look at me I found Brittany and my life has never been the same and I love that. And one day I'm gonna marry her and you'll be old enough to be a flower girl. Then eventually we will have babies just like you and you'll have baby cousins to play with, how does that sound?" Again the baby made a noise that Santana took as an affirmative statement.

"You know what, most people back home would never believe that I was having a full blown conversation with a baby. They think I'm all tough and mean, and I am, but the people in this family have a track record of turning me into a huge softy. I know shocking right, but you know what, I kind love your family so it's ok." The baby was finally quiet, but she was still wide awake. "What do you say I sing you a song and you take a nap, fair trade?" The baby made a face, "hey, naps are awesome, enjoy them while you can. Maybe I'll sing a song that I want to sing for Brittany. Can I try it out on you?" The baby smiled and so Santana walked into the bedroom with the crib set up in it and started to sing to Julie.

I've heard it said  
That people come into our lives for a reason  
Bringing something we must learn  
And we are led  
To those who help us most to grow  
If we let them  
And we help them in return  
Well, I don't know if I believe that's true  
But I know I'm who I am today  
Because I knew you 

While the song would usually be sung louder, Santana kept her voice soft and low, but everyone in the house could still hear them from where they were in the kitchen because of the baby monitor.

Like a comet pulled from orbit  
As it passes a sun  
Like a stream that meets a boulder  
Halfway through the wood  
Who can say if I've been changed for the better?  
But because I knew you  
I have been changed for good 

Santana was pacing the floor with Julie pressed against her chest and she could feel the baby starting to breath heavier, but she continued anyway.

It well may be  
That we will never meet again  
In this lifetime  
So let me say before we part  
So much of me  
Is made of what I learned from you  
You'll be with me  
Like a handprint on my heart  
And now whatever way our stories end  
I know you have re-written mine  
By being my friend...

Santana had a few stray tears in her eyes as she sang and unknown to her Brittany was in the kitchen listening to her sing with a steady flow of tears streaming down her face.

Like a ship blown from its mooring  
By a wind off the sea  
Like a seed dropped by a skybird  
In a distant wood  
Who can say if I've been changed for the better?  
But because I knew you

I have been changed for good

And just to clear the air  
I ask forgiveness  
For the thing I've done you blame me for  
But then, I guess we know  
There's blame to share 

And none of it seems to matter anymore 

Like a comet pulled from orbit  
As it passes a sun  
Like a stream that meets a boulder  
Halfway through the wood

Like a ship blown from its mooring  
By a wind off the sea  
Like a seed dropped by a bird in the wood

Santana slowly put the baby into the crib, carefully not to wake her up as she finished the song. Brittany left her family in the kitchen and went into the room Santana was in and waited by the door until she was done.

Who can say if I've been  
Changed for the better?  
I do believe I have been  
Changed for the better

And because I knew you... 

Because I knew you...  
I have been changed for good.

Santana smiled at the sleeping baby, "what do you think Julie, you think Britt Britt will like it?"

"I loved it." Santana turned around just fast enough to catch Brittany as she launched herself into Santana's arms. The stayed like that for few moments before Brittany started kissing her pretty passionate until both of them were out of breath. "Not that I'm complaining Britt, but where did that come from?"

"I heard what you said when you were talking to Julie."

"How, we were in another part of the house?"

"Baby monitors are in most of the rooms."

Santana turned beet red, "oh."

"I want all those things too."

"Yeah?"

"Duh, although after how you were with Julie I don't think my uncle and aunt will let you leave, they need you around to be a babysitter."

"They will just have to fight you for me."

"Damn straight they will, you're mine, besides they can always find another baby sitter. There is, however, only one you."

"Well I would hope so, two Santana's would be a little bit much for the world to handle."

"You'd still be my favorite."

Santana took Brittany's hand and walked out of the room, "sap."

"You know it."

**Sorry for the delay folks, but hope this made up for it. Review for more.**


	31. I'm Home

**So you guys should let me know if you want me to make the next few chapters line up with Christmas. My plan was to make the next chapter, them going home and then I can jump right into Christmas or I can do the regular school year. I think I'll do a mix of both with the school year starting and then a time jump to xmas.**

The next morning the adults tried their best to get the kids ready and out the door. They had all been invited to a birthday party and the adults were looking forward to a day of adult interactions that were free of small children. Santana stayed in the kitchen with Julie while everyone rushed around them. To keep herself and the baby entertained Santana started playing peek-a-boo which caused Julie to giggle and smile. If she had known she was being watched she would have stopped, but she was too caught up in the game to notice the man in the door way.

"I'm not sure who is having more fun, you or her." Santana turned to see Victor walk into the room.

"I have no idea what you are talking about," Santana played dumb and quickly scooped up Julie in her arms. "We were talking about literature."

"Right. So you heading into the city with us today?"

"Yep, Britt wants to see the Castro, she thinks it's a restaurant." Santana laughed a little bit.

"And I'm sure you didn't correct her."

"I just told her that there are restaurants in the Castro but that it is more of a place."

"She's changed her outfit 3 times in the last ten minutes; she wants to find something that is more unicorn, whatever that means." Santana couldn't help herself and she laughed. "I better go tell her she looks fine." Santana walked upstairs still holding the babbling baby in her arms. She opened the door as Brittany was standing there in front of the mirror smoothing out the sundress she was wearing.

"You look perfect."

Brittany rolled her eyes, "you have to say that, you're in love with me."

"Very true, but that's the truth, even Julie thinks so." The baby giggled to prove her point.

"Is everyone ready to go?"

"They are loading up the cars now. We should head down there before they leave us." Brittany grabbed her purse and followed Santana downstairs and after getting Julie settled in her car seat they both got in the car with Eliza, Jane and Elizabeth.

After dropping the kids off at the birthday party the adults all headed into the city. The plan was to spend some time in the Castro and then head to Pier 39. Brittany looked like a kid on Christmas as they drove through the busy streets of SF. They found parking a few blocks away and slowly made their way to Castro Street. The aunts and uncles had a few errands to fun so they told Santana and Britt that they could meet up in an hour for lunch. Santana agreed and even offered to keep Julie with them so the adults could have actual adult time. As they broke away Brittany took off down the street with Santana hot on her tail. She finally caught up with her as Brittany has stopped in front of the Human Rights Campaign store.

"Wanna go inside babe?"

"Will I have to math?"

"No, baby, the equal sign has nothing to do with math, it means equal rights."

"Like everyone should be treated the same?"

"Exactly." Santana opened the door for Brittany and followed her into the store with the stroller. Brittany immediately went to where the tshirts were and held one up for Santana to see.

"Baby can you please buy this?"

The shirt was red with white writing and it said HoHoHomosexual. Santana rolled her eyes at the bad Christmas pun. "Britt I'll look ridiculous in that."

"Please." Damn, she really couldn't say no to Brittany. "Ok, ok, I'll get it." Brittany squealed and returned to shopping. By the time she was done Brittany had gifts for the glee club, some stuff for her and Santana and even some stuff for San's parents. Santana managed to also get a little something for Julie (truth be told she was getting attached to the baby and those onesies were really cute). They left the store and walked up the street to the place they were going to eat. Santana picked Julie up and was holding her in one hand and holding Britt's hand in the other. Both girls were making faces at the infant and making her laugh. Santana looked around searching for Brittany's family.

"San, I'm gonna go put our stuff in the car and I'll bring the family back with me ok?"

"Ok baby don't get lost." Brittany gave her a quick kiss and walked toward the car.

Santana could see far enough down the street to see that Brittany had met up with her family and they were headed to the car. She turned her attention back to the baby and started playing peek a boo again. The baby laughed and playfully swatted at Santana which of course made her smile. Santana only stopped when she heard someone talking to her.

"Your daughter is beautiful." Santana turned around and there was a woman in her late 40's standing there smiling. Santana blushed, "she's not my daughter. She's my cousin, or well she's my girlfriend's cousin."

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to assume she was yours, but I saw the three of you together and you just looked so much like a family."

"Well thank you, I guess we act more like, a married couple then a couple of teenagers."

"Nothing wrong with finding your soul mate young."

"It has its benefits and its pitfalls. Like I know I'm gonna love her all my life, but I have to wait for the rest of the world to say that our love is legal."

"Just because the world doesn't think it's right doesn't mean they are right, no does it? If you love her, to hell with the rest of the world. The way I see it, God gives us the people in our lives for a reason; some people are there to teach us something, some are there to test us and some are there to love us. Now I don't pretend to know what god is thinking, I just let it happen, but other people pretend like they know better than God. Don't listen to those people honey, because they don't know crap. If they were so smart they would trust that God knows what he is doing and doesn't need their help. Do what make you happy honey, cuz in the end that is all God wants for us. And one day, you'll be able to flip off every last one of those people that said your love doesn't matter and you'll be able to do it with a wedding band on your finger."

Santana didn't know what to say so she just smiled. "Looks like your family is coming back so I will leave you to your lunch." Santana thanked the woman as she turned to leave and soon Brittany was at her side with the rest of the family. After they ate they got back into their cars and headed to Pier 39.

They spent the next two hours shopping and simply enjoying the city. Eventually they had to leave to go pick up the kids. The girls made it home first while the boys went to get the kids. Santana and Brittany had made their way outside and had settled into the hammock. The kids came running outside, high on sugar and running around. They didn't seem to bother the girls who were both almost half asleep in the hammock.

"Santana?"

"Yeah baby?"

"Can we stay here forever?"

"Eventually we are gonna have to go home Britt." Santana laughed.

"But when I am with you I am home."

"You stole that from Finding Nemo."

Brittany smiled, eyes still slightly shut, "doesn't mean its not true."

"We'll come back Brittany I promise. And your family can come see us graduate and all that kind of stuff."

"It's peaceful here." Santana smiled and stroked Brittany's hair softly.

"I know, but we can create peaceful places at home. That way when we get stressed out, we can have a place to go that will calm us down. Sound good?"

"That sounds nice. I'm still gonna miss California though."

"I will too Britt, but we'll stay in touch with your family and come back for visits. Besides I have to make sure the rugrat is growing up properly." Brittany smiled and couldn't help but laugh. "Who would have guessed that Santana Lopez would be such a softy when it came to babies."

"Don't let it get around, might ruin my reputation."

"Right your reputation. Face it babe, you're a push over." Santana started fake snoring and Brittany knew she had won. "Britt smiled and kissed Santana's nose before she snuggled into Santana's chest and both of them fell asleep. About an hour later the kids ran inside and started asking about dinner. Joseph ran up to his mother and tugged on her sleeve.

"Momma, are Brittany and Santa camping outside?"

"Not that I know of baby, why?"

"Cuz they is sleeping in the hammock?" Jane laughed, " well how about you go wash up for dinner and I will go get the girls up." The little boy ran upstairs and his mother went into the yard. She gently shook the hammock and the movement woke Brittany up. When she tried to wake Santana up all she got was a grumble.

"Come on San, I'm hungry, wake up." Not knowing that Jane was standing right there Santana rolled over and started sucking on Brittany's neck, "I have something for you to eat." Santana always was kind of horny when she woke up. "well thank you for that image, but my niece is not on the menu, I hink we are having pot roast and potatoes."

Santana's eyes shot open and a deep red blush spread across her face. She buried her face in Britt's shoulder, "please tell me that I didn't just say that loud enough for your aunt to hear."

"You did and while I plan on making fun of you for it forever, right now dinner is ready." The girls rolled out of bed and followed Jane in to the house. They sat at the table and started to talk about their trip to the city and they made plans for the remainder of their trip. Both girls were upset that they had to go home in 2 days, but they were hell bent on making those 2 days count.

**So let me know what you all want me to do timeline wise and I'll try to update soon.**


	32. Never Alone

On the morning that they were supposed to be leaving to go back to Lima, Santana woke up before her phone alarm was set to go off. She turned the alarm off so it wouldn't wake Brittany up and then she made her way downstairs. She could smell the familiar smell of coffee coming from the kitchen and when she walked in Victor was sitting at the table reading the paper.

"Think I could steal the sports section from you?" Without moving his gaze from the paper before him, Victor reached out and grabbed a small part of the paper that was resting on the table. He handed the sports page to Santana and motioned to the mugs that were sitting on the counter next to the coffee pot. Santana took the hint and grabbed a mug, filled it up and sat down next to Victor. After a few moments of silence and page turning victor spoke up.

"So you guys are leaving today?"

"That is what my ticket says."

"And how do you feel about that?"

"Mixed emotions. We're gonna miss everyone here and I mean senior year is going to be exciting, college and all that stuff, I want to see my friends, but school is complicated." Santana looked back to her paper and hoped they would end the conversation there.

"Complicated because of the shooting." It wasn't a question, more like a statement of fact.

Santana nodded her head, "Britt was ok when we went back for the award ceremony, but I'm worried that the day in day out stuff would wear her out."

"What about you?"

"What about me?"

"Brittany wasn't the only one who suffered that day: you may not have been shot, but you were just as traumatized. You spend so much of your time protecting her; I think you forget that you have to take care of yourself." Victor put the paper down and looked at Santana, waiting for a response. Santana took another sip of coffee, but avoided his gaze, "I know that." Victor took the paper out of her hands, he wanted her attention. "See I hear you telling me that you know that, but I wonder if you actually understand. She loves you, more than anything and she needs you, probably as much as you need her. You don't always have to be the strong one, she is a china doll, she won't break. Take care of yourself and take care of her, in that order. She may have gotten shot that day, but you almost watched her die, give yourself some space to heal. When you go back to school support her, but be willing to reach out and ask for some help when you need it, ok?"

Santana nodded and looked up at Victor who smiled at her, "good, because I can't have my granddaughter marrying someone who is crazy." He winked at her and Santana laughed, "who said anything about me marrying her?"

"Please, my wife comes homes missing her wedding ring and then all of a sudden the account we started for her wedding is closed. I'm old my dear girl, but I'm not senile yet." He smiled and got up to pour himself another cup of coffee. Santana played with the handle on her mug, "you think she'd do it, marry me I mean?"

"I think she might just be crazy enough to marry you."

"I love her." Santana wasn't sure why she felt the need to say that.

"I never thought you didn't honey. You make her happy, you help her out, you fit in this family like you were born into it and for what it's worth I think you're the best thing that ever happened to her."

"How can you possible think that? Because of our relationship she almost got killed by her own father."

"Well, her father is my son, so I suppose I have to take the blame on that one."

"But…" Victor walked over to Santana cut her off. "Look at me and listen to me when I say this. My son royally fucked up and I can't tell you how sorry I am for what he put you through, but don't you ever apologize for loving her, ok, it's never a mistake to love someone. Do you understand me?" Santana looked at him, teary eyed and nodded. "Good, now come help me with breakfast. Can't have my girls traveling on an empty stomach now can I?" Santana stood up and hugged Victor, "thank you."

"You my dear girl, are very welcome." They started through breakfast together and soon most of the house was up. Brittany was still asleep so Santana went up stairs to bring her down. She climbed back in the bed and wrapped her arms around Brittany, "babe, come on there is food downstairs and then we have to get ready to go."

"Brittany isn't here at the moment, please leave a message after the beep, beep." Santana laughed and kissed Brittany's shoulder. "Come on Britt, you gotta get up."

"You're so mean to me." Brittany rolled over and pouted.

"I know, but I did make you food."

"Then I suppose you are forgiven." Brittany followed Santana downstairs and had a nice breakfast with their family. Santana excused herself to go pack their bags and bring them downstairs. Brittany helped load them into the car before she went back inside. They had roughly an hour before they needed to leave for the airport so Santana sat down on one of the patio chairs and Brittany joined her. They seemed to be perfectly happy enjoying being outside on their own, but soon Santana heard Julianna start crying from inside the house. Even though she knew her parents were perfectly capable of taking care of her, she wanted to go pick the baby up because she knew they were leaving soon and she was going to miss her. Santana found Jane in the living room trying once again to calm the baby down. Santana held out her arms and the Julie reached out for her. Jane gladly handed over the crying infant and motioned to Santana that she would be in the kitchen. Santana reached into her pocket and pulled out her ipod and set it in the dock. She selected a song and hit play before focusing back to the crying baby. The music started and Santana started singing in an effort to soothe Julie.

_Never alone_

_When your hope has been broken_

_And the fear is unspoken but true_

_You're never alone_

_Like a dream in a child_

_Or a childish dream in you_

Brittany came in from outside and watched from the doorway as her girlfriend swayed with the baby in her arms. She listened while she sang and she couldn't help herself so she took out her phone and unknown to Santana she started to film it.

_I'll do anything that I can do_

_To show you my love and comfort you_

_When you can't seem to find your way home_

_And when life gets to hard_

_To face on your own_

_I will stand as a light through your darkest unknown_

_I will walk with you_

_So you're never alone_

Santana looked up and saw Brittany standing there and motioned for her to come "dance" with them. Brittany put her phone down so that it was still recording and went over to Santana. Santana held Julie, who by now was completely silent closer to her chest and Brittany wrapped her arms around them both from behind Santana.

_You're never alone_

_Like a tear in the ocean_

_Or a star on a clear winter night_

_You're never alone_

_When the courage you needed_

_Has been all but defeated in you _

_I'll do anything that I can do_

_To show you my love and comfort you_

_When you can't seem to find your way home_

_And when life gets to hard_

_To face on your own_

_I will stand as a light through your darkest unknown_

_I will walk with you_

_So you're never alone_

_When you can't seem to find your way home_

_And when life gets to hard_

_To face on your own_

_I will stand as a light through your darkest unknown_

_I will walk with you_

_I will walk with you_

_I will walk with you_

_So you're never alone_

When the music died Santana kissed the top of Julie's head and turned around and kissed Brittany before heading into the kitchen to hand Julie back to her mother. When she did she realized that they needed to leave in order to make it to the airport in enough time. They hugged and kissed everyone goodbye and when Santana gave Julie one more hug and kiss goodbye the child started crying the second Santana was no longer holding her.

Jane laughed, "I think someone is rather found of their new cousin. She doesn't want you to leave." It totally made Santana's heart sink, seeing the baby so upset. She gave the baby another kiss on the cheek, "listen munchkin how about I leave something with you and you hold onto it for me." Santana took the scrunchie out of her hair and handed it to the baby who instantly became fascinated with it. It wasn't much, but it made the baby happy and that was good enough for Santana. They finally got in the car and made their way to the airport. After fighting through security and slowly boarding the plane the girls were finally on their way back home.

**A little rushed at the end I know, but I have work in a few hours so sleep is happening. Review for more, and the more I get the longer the next chapter will be. Thanks everyone.**


	33. Back To School

**Warning: This chapter mentions self harm briefly so if that is triggering for you read knowing that it is at least briefly mentioned.**

When the girls got home they spent the next few days telling Angela all about their trip to California. They showed her all the pictures they took and when Santana wasn't looking, Brittany showed Angela the video she took of Santana and Julie. Angela was glad that they had enjoyed their vacation, but was worried about how they would react about school starting up again in two weeks. When she brought the topic of school supply shopping, Brittany grew quiet and went after her and eventually found her in her room. Santana sat down next to her and grabbed her hand.

"Talk to me B."

"I'm not scared to go back."

"Then why did you get so upset?"

"Because people died Santana and I should feel bad, but….I'm just happy it wasn't me. Does that make me a bad person?"

"Britt, you couldn't be a bad person if you tried. You have survivor's remorse, but it's ok to be happy you lived. The fact that you care so much about those other kids, shows that you aren't a bad person."

"I'm excited for senior year."

"Me too Britt, me too."

"We're gonna be ok right?"

Santana kissed her head, "yeah B, we're gonna be just fine. I'm gonna go help with dinner, you come down when you're ready." Santana left the room and went back into the kitchen.

"She ok?" Angela asked.

"She will be." Brittany joined them about 20 later. They had a quiet dinner and soon Santana offered to go get them ice cream for dessert. She kissed Brittany and headed out the door. When Brittany was sure she was gone she walked back into the kitchen where Angela was loading the dishwasher. "Angela, can I talk to you about something?"

Angela paused and stopped what she was doing, "you can always talk to me sweetie, what's up?"

"You know how the last time I talked to my therapist she said she wanted to give me medication for anxiety?" Angela nodded her head so Brittany continued. "I want to. Take the pills I mean." Angela closed that dishwasher and gave her full attention to Brittany.

"Brittany, are you feeling anxious?"

"Sometimes I feel like I can't sit down. Like if I stop moving something bad will happen and sometimes I just get really depressed and it's scary." Angela perked up at that. "Scary how?"

"I don't know." Brittany looked at her feet and hoped to avoid the question.

"Brittany, look at me." She finally looked up and made eye contact with Angela. "Have you…did you do something harmful to calm yourself down?"

"No, but I thought about it. I'm sorry." Angela breathed a sigh of relief, "oh honey, it's ok. I'm glad you told me. But you do know that those pills won't fix everything, you have to talk about it in therapy."

"I know, I'm going to. Can you let me tell Sanny?"

"Sure thing sweetheart, if anyone can understand what you are going through its her."

"I just don't want her to worry."

"Brittany she loves you, she's always going to worry about you."

"I know that, but I just don't want her to think it's her fault and do it again." Angela's face fell at that, she knew what Brittany meant. When Santana was young she took to cutting herself as a way of coping with the stress she was dealing with at school and in her personal life. No one noticed for a long time because she kept everyone at arm's length by adopting her intense personality. She only stopped because Brittany saw the scars when they started messing around and she didn't want to do anything to make Brittany sad. Now Brittany was trying to spare her the same fate.

"Honey, I don't think she'd ever do that again and she would want you to be honest with her."

"I know, but I don't want to make her sad."

"Brittany, you make her very, very happy, nothing will ever change that." Angela patted Brittany's knee, "and if you ever feel like that again you come tell me, ok?"

"I will." Brittany gave Angela a hug before heading into the living room. Santana came home and settled in next to her on the couch and they ate their ice cream in silence, well, silence until Brittany decided to break it.

"I'm going to start taking some medication." Santana stabbed at her ice cream with her spoon before responding, "what for?"

"Anxiety."

"Ok."

"Ok? That's all you're going to say."

"Brittany I want what is best for you and if these meds will help you then yeah, ok is what I have to say about it." Brittany smiled and gave Santana a kiss on the cheek before returning to her ice cream.

The girls spent the remaining two weeks of their summer getting ready for school and just being lazy. The morning school actually started Santana was up at 6am because she couldn't sleep. She showered and got dressed before she went to check on Brittany. Brittany was still asleep so Santana quietly left the room and went down stairs. After eating breakfast she threw together a lunch for her and for Brittany. Half an hour later Britt came down along with Angela.

"You girls ready for senior year?"

"Oh yeah. College here we come right Britt?"

"What if I can't get my grades up?"

"You will baby and you're going to get into an awesome school and so will I. Everything is gonna work out B."

"Well you've always been right before."

"Exactly, I'm never wrong."

"You're full of yourself, you know that right?"

"True, but you love me."

"Very true. Come on we're going to be late if we do not leave soon." The girls grabbed their things and loaded up Santana's car and headed for the school. Santana pulled into the parking lot which was packed with people, both in and out their cars, all trying to make it to class on time. Santana parked close to the football field so they could leave right after Cheerio's practice. They walked into the hallway and made their way through the security checkpoints before stopping at their lockers. They said their goodbyes and headed to their classes. They didn't see each other again until 3rd period history and then lunch.

They sat down with the glee kids at lunch and listen while Rachel rambled on and on about her summer. Quinn was sitting there, being the good girlfriend, but even her interest was waning. The rest of the day wore on and eventually they ended up in the choir room waiting for glee to begin. Everyone seemed to be dealing with being back pretty well and they were all thankful for the award ceremony because it gave them the opportunity to slowly get used to being back in the school again. Soon Mr. Shue came walking into the room and greeted everyone.

"Welcome back everyone and to the seniors welcome to you last year of high school." The kids all cheered and clapped in response.

"Now next week is back to school night and I want to put on a showcase for your folks, show them that we're ready to win it all this year and show off all the talent we have. So I want you all to come up with a performance for back to school night. They can be duets, but I prefer solos, also I want to pick a genre of music you don't usually perform, push your comfort zone. Invite your parents and any family members you want to be here to see you." Once he was done he let everyone get to work on their projects. Everyone took out their ipods and started to plan their pieces. Santana looked up form her music to see Brittany just sitting there.

"Britt, you ok babe?"

"Do you think your mom would come and cheer for both of us?"

"Of course she will baby, you're family to both of us. Brittany smiled and turned to start talking to Mike about some dance moves for her performance. Santana took out her phone and ducked into the hall. When the other end of the phone call clicked in Santana didn't waste any time with small talk.

"Hey, I need to call in a favor."

After a week of preparations, the kids were ready to perform at back to school night. They spent half the night in their homerooms and wondering around with their parents. Eventually they all found their way into the choir room. Mr. Shue greeted the parents as they filed in. Once everyone was seated Mr. Shue got everything started.

"Welcome to back to school night everyone and thank you parents and family for joining us for this showcase. Before we begin there is a little surprise for Brittany and Santana." Both girls looked a little surprised. "Close your eyes and no peeking."

Both girls complied and all the while Santana was wondering what the hell was going on, but her confusion was soon dispelled when she felt a small hand swatting at the top of her foot. When she looked down she was surprised to see Julianna on the floor with a big toothy smile. Santana let out a very girly scream and scooped up the baby into her arms. Both the baby and Santana started laughing as Santana started to talk to her in a softer tone. The rest of the glee club watched in stunned silence, Santana was being docile, affectionate, maternal and it was a side of her few of them thought existed. Brittany still didn't get what was going on because no one had told her to open her eyes so hers remained shut tight.

"Britt, baby open your eyes." When she did she smiled at the sight of Santana with her baby cousin. She leaned over and kissed the top of Julie's head before looking around and asking, "well unless you crawled all the way from California, someone came with you. Where is your mommy?"

"Right here." In the doorway stood Jane and it didn't take long for Brittany to run over and hug her Aunt Jane. Santana went over and hugged Jane before going back to her seat with the baby. Brittany was still very confused.

"What are you doing here?"

"I was told you two were going to be performing and Santana called asking if anyone could maybe make it out here to support you."

"You knew about this?" She looked at Santana.

"Sort of, I called Liz to see if it was possible and she never told me for sure yes or no. I was expecting her to maybe come out, I had no idea the ankle bitter and Jane were coming. I'm just as surprised as you are right now." Brittany leaned over and gave Santana a real kiss before sitting up straight in her chair. Mr. Shue took that as the ok to continue on with the "show".

"Ok everyone, now that everyone is here let's get going. Who wants to go first?" Mike and Artie did a country song that was well done and made people laugh. Tina went followed by Finn, then Quinn and Rachel. Eventually only Santana and Brittany were left. Santana volunteered to go first and handed Julie to Brittany. She walked over to the band and handed them the music. "I decided to do a mash up of two songs and hopefully they turned out alright." Santana nodded for the music to start and immediately jumped into her performance. As the music picked up she pointed at Brittany and sang.

_"You are the one, who makes it worth getting up in the morning.  
I'd trade the sun, for the chance to show you I'm all in.  
We could be like Jay and Beyonce,  
Bonnie and Clyde us like a movie, take that chance on love yeah._

Now I can't predict what the future holds,  
But I'll fight forever to keep you close yeah.

I'd give it all up baby,  
Trade in the world to show I'm fallin, I'm fallin yeah.  
Don't need the fame or money, long as I got you girl  
I'm fallin I'm fallin  
Tell all them other girls I've fallin, oh.

Put me to the test, I'll prove to you I'll never be a heartache.  
Cause you're the best, you deserve the best.  
Rule this world like Michelle and Barack, be my girl we'll end up on top.  
Take that chance on love yeah.

_Santana pulled Brittany up out of her seat and pulled her and Julie closer to her as she continued to sing._

Now I can't predict what the future holds,  
But I'll fight forever to keep you close yeah.

I'd give it all up baby,  
Trade in the world to show I'm fallin, I'm fallin yeah.  
Don't need the fame or money, long as I got you girl  
I'm fallin I'm fallin  
Tell all them other girls I've fallin, oh.

_Cause I think I finally found the queen of hearts  
_

_There comes a time in every man's life  
when he's gonna have to make a choice  
should he keep up with the player's life  
or listen to that inner voice  
sayin if you got a good one  
you be a fool if you let it go  
I'm admitting that the days were fun  
but I think its time for me to grow_

There ain't no one in this entire world  
I'd rather be with than you girl

Santana stood firm in the center of the room as she reached into her bra and pulled out a deck of cards and literally threw them across the room. Everyone was totally caught up in the song and performance so no one really cared about the mess and Brittany was completely focused on Santana. __

So I'm throwing out all my cards  
cause I think I finally found the queen of hearts  
I used to be the king of clubs  
but now those days are done  
cause I know you are the queen of hearts  
you're my queen of hearts

Oh I knew this day was gonna come  
when I would have to shuffle my plans  
now I've got a pair of diamonds  
so I put them in your even hands  
cause you are the real thing  
there's no way that I could walk away

_I'm giving you the best of me  
so baby you win the game_

There ain't no one in this entire world  
I'd rather be with than you girl

So I'm throwing out all my cards  
cause I think I finally found the queen of hearts  
I used to be the king of clubs  
but now those days are done  
cause I know you are the queen of hearts  
you're my queen of hearts

Santana kneeled in front of Brittany and took her free hand and sang right to her.__

No one before you came close  
to what you do you know  
that's the truth for sure  
you changed my life now  
I can't see me without your love

So I'm throwing out all my cards  
cause I think I finally found the queen of hearts  
I used to be the king of clubs  
but now those days are done  
cause I know you are the queen of hearts  
you're my queen of hearts

As the music died Santana handed Britt the queen of hearts card and kissed her, "love you forever, Queen of my heart." Everyone cheered and clapped and Santana's parents were both very impressed by her performance. Brittany was blushing hardcore and Julie just liked the music so she was giggling. "Thank you very much Santana, that was amazing. Ok, Brittany that leaves you, come on up." Brittany handed to baby to her mother and stood in the front off the room with Mike standing next to her. Brittany nodded to the band who reset how they were standing. When the music started everyone could tell that Brittany was really trying to step out of her comfort zone.

It's gonna take a lot to drag me away from you  
There's nothing that a hundred men, or more, could ever do  
Just like the rain, down in Africa  
It's gonna take some time but I know you're worth fighting for -  
I'd fight for you

Hey ba bum ba eh ba bum ba eh eh ba bum ba eh  
I'd fight for you  
Hey ba bum ba eh ba bum ba eh eh ba bum ba eh  
I'd fight for you

Everyone's mouth practically hit the floor at the same time. Brittany and Mike had come up with some great moves, but Brittany was really putting everything she had into that performance so the singing was equally as awesome. 

Friends are cool but we both know - they don't wanna see us together  
Don't wanna lose what I live for - I'm willing to do whatever  
'cause I don't wanna see you cry  
Give our love another try  
I bet we get it right this time  
As long as you're prepared to fight

I don't wanna live another day without your body next to me  
I'm not gonna let them break us down  
'cause baby I know now

It's gonna take a lot to drag me away from you  
I'd fight for you  
There's nothing that a hundred men, or more, could ever do  
I'd fight for you  
Just like the rain, down in Africa  
I'd fight for you  
It's gonna take some time but I know you're worth fighting for -

Lesgo  
What they say - It don't even matter  
They don't really understand  
Without each other, we are barely breathing  
Let's get air in these hearts a gain  
'cause I don't wanna see you cry - give our love another try  
I bet we get it right this time  
As long as you're prepared to fight  
Prepared to fight

I don't wanna live another day without your body next to me  
I'm not gonna let them break us down  
'cause baby I know now (know now, know now)

It's gonna take a lot to drag me away from you  
I'd fight for you  
There's nothing that a hundred men, or more, could ever do  
I'd fight for you  
Just like the rain, down in Africa  
I'd fight for you  
It's gonna take some time but I know you're worth fighting for -  
I'd fight for you

Hey ba bum ba eh ba bum ba eh eh ba bum ba eh  
I'd fight for you  
Hey ba bum ba eh ba bum ba eh eh ba bum ba eh

If you've got someone that's worth fighting for  
Don't let nobody hold you down let me hear you say  
WOOOOOOAHHHHHH  
If you've found someone that's worth dying for  
The one you can't live without let me hear you say  
WOOOOOOAHHHHHH

It's gonna take a lot to drag me away from you  
There's nothing that a hundred men, or more, could ever do  
I'd fight for you  
Just like the rain, down in Africa  
I'd fight for you  
It's gonna take some time but I know you're worth fighting forrrrrrrr  
WOAH

It's gonna take a lot to drag me away from you  
I'd fight for you  
There's nothing that a hundred men, or more, could ever do  
I'd fight for you  
Just like the rain, down in Africa  
I'd fight for you  
It's gonna take some time but I know you're worth fighting for

When the music died down the room irrupted, everyone congratulating Mike and Brittany on the dancing and generally just telling Brittany that she was amazing. Santana of course loved her performance and made sure the Brittany knew that. They enjoyed spending the evening with their friends and some of their family members. Eventually everyone started to filter out and head home so around 8:30 Santana and Brittany did the same. They piled into Santana's car and headed back home and Brittany couldn't help but think that maybe Santana was right, maybe they would be ok this year.

**So the songs in this were all by Jason Derulo and hopefully you liked what I did with them. Also I know that in one chapter I had said the Jane was Joseph's mom, but I realized that was an error and that Jane is Julie's mom and Melissa is Joseph's mom. I will try to fix that error. Thanks for being patient with me and hopefully this chapter was up to par with the rest of the story. I'm thinking about making the next chapters holiday related ones so that I can move the story along at a decent pace. Let me know what you think and review, thanks everyone.**


	34. Brittana Christmas

**So for the sake of time, I skipped Thanksgiving and am focusing on Christmas and the end of the year here. I am so sorry for the wait, but graduation is so close and I got into grad school so I have been super busy. I might put it in the deleted scene story that I want to do after this story and before the sequel. After this chapter I have several chapters pre-written so they will come faster, provided that you all review and feed my ego and my muse :-) Hopefully you like this chapter because it's a Christmas chapter and it may get a little hot because nothing says Christmas like sexual frustration :-) **

With Christmas just around the corner Santana was more stressed out than ever before. You see Brittany loved Christmas, ever since she could understand what it was she loved Christmas and that meant Santana had to pull out all the stops and show her Christmas cheer for the entire month of December. She was also worried that her gift for Brittany wasn't enough or that she should get her something else. Pressure from finals and the pressure to finish college apps were all bearing down on Santana and it would have normally made her unbearable to be around, but Santana couldn't help but light up every time she saw Brittany help her mom decorate the house.

When finals finally ended and the girls were home for Christmas break Santana dedicated the first few days of that vacation to finishing college apps. She and Brittany had set up camp on the kitchen table and had been writing their essays and filling out forms for the last few months. Santana's dad helped Brittany film her audition tape that she sent in with her applications while Angela proof read all their essays. This application in her hand was the last one Santana had to send off and then the waiting game would officially begin. She and Brittany had kept their college hopes a secret from everyone but each other, but there was one school Santana had applied to the even Brittany didn't know about. She finished signing her name and sealed the envelope shut before running outside in the snow to drop it off in the mailbox; even though it was the day before Christmas Eve she literally didn't care and just wanted to whole process to be over. When she came back inside Angela was in the kitchen with Brittany getting ready to start dinner.

"Santana can you move you stuff off the table, I want to wash it down before we eat?"

"Sure, I'm all done anyway." Santana grabbed all her stuff and headed up to her room. She put all the paper work and pamphlets away and when she was satisfied with the organization of her room she turned to walk out of her room, but her father was standing there blocking her path.

"Is something wrong dad?"

"No Santana, nothing is wrong, but I would like to give you some advice."

"Daddy is this another choose wisely, college is not a joke talks because I know it's important…" Santana got cut off when her dad handed her a piece of paper. "You dropped this brochure in the hall on your way up here, I saw it before your mother or Brittany did." Santana took the paper form him and sat down on the foot of her bed.

"I'm sorry I didn't tell you daddy."

"I didn't come in here for an apology Santana, I came in here for an explanation. Start talking." Santana sighed heavily as her father shut the door behind him and sat on the bed next to his daughter waiting for an answer. "I have to explore all my options daddy and this one can provide an amazing future for me and for Brittany. There will never be a question of can I provide for my family or will we need to do this to make it by, I can provide for us, no question about it."

"You know what, when your mother told me that she was pregnant with you I was so scared I started crying." He laughed a little at the memory and Santana blushed. "I had just been named Chief resident at the hospital and I was under a lot of stress, so even though I was happy I was terrified at the same time. I had no idea how I was going to support a wife and a baby. Later that night when you mother was asleep I pushed the covers away and I started talking to her abdomen. I knew that she wasn't far enough along for you to have ears yet, but I started talking to you about why I had cried, why I was scared. I explained that I was so excited for you to be born and excited to be a father, but that I wanted to give you and your mother everything I could and I didn't want to fail. Now through this whole thing your mother politely pretended to still be sleeping, but when I was done and I laid back down she asked me if I loved her. I said of course I loved her, then she asked did I love the baby, again, I said of course. She told me that as long as I loved her and the baby, that's all we needed to get through the stressful time ahead, that I was a good provider and that I worked hard. She said that she knew I was going to be an amazing father because I was already so worried about being the perfect husband and father."

Santana cut in, "why are you telling me all this?" Her dad took her hands in his, "because you are already so worried about providing for your family and my best advice to you is to breathe, you love her and you have a plan for your future together so you are already ahead of most of the people your age. Do yourself a favor and learn now that as long as you have love for your wife in your heart you can overcome anything, even something as great as fear." He patted Santana knee and got up to leave the room. Santana stopped him before he left the room, "hold up, that's it, no lecture, no yelling about being honest or this being a huge decision and I should rethink it."

"No lecture Santana, just some honest advice and here's another piece of advice, I can't make you tell Brittany and trust me she will be mad at you for keep this from her, but I will not keep this from your mother."

"You going to tell mom aren't you?"

"No, you are. You're about to be an adult Santana and this is something you'll have to do on your own. Dinner smells like its ready so come down soon." And with that he left the room. Santana came downstairs and joined the family for dinner. She was quiet throughout dinner and when they were clearing the plates Santana's father suggested they go pick up ice cream for dessert from the special ice cream shop on the other side of town. Brittany immediately volunteered to go with him which was his plan all along. She ran out the door, followed by Santana's younger brother, leaving Santana and Angela in the kitchen alone.

"Your father thinks he is being subtle, but clearly he thinks we have something to talk about or he wouldn't have left the house empty save for you and me. I have a sinking suspicion that you have something to discuss with me."

"I don't know where to start."

"Well then that trip to get ice cream is going to be uncomfortably long." Angela smiled and Santana forced a laugh. "Come on Santana spill it."

"You're gonna be mad."

"You know it's a funny thing about mothers, when you become one you almost become a spy, you have to read into everything because raising children is like cracking a safe. So what makes you think I don't already know what you are going to say to me." Santana knew that this was one of those times that you just let your mother talk because you were already in big trouble. "This wouldn't have anything to do with a letter that came in the mail yesterday would it?"

"What letter?" Santana was shocked, she hadn't seen any mail for her come in.

"This one." Angela held up an envelope and handed it to Santana. "Now you can start talking Santana." Santana took a deep breath and explained everything about that particular school to her mother and why she couldn't under any circumstances tell Brittany. Angela sat there in a stunned silence, she didn't know if she should yell or cry or hug her daughter. "Santana are you sure this is what you want?"

"Momma I'm not even sure that I will get in, but I had to try. I don't want to wake up in 20 years and realize I'm only living half of my potential. Please say you can understand this." Angela sat there in silence before finally speaking, "I understand needing to pursue every possible path and you have seemed to have really thought this out. Are you going to open the envelope?"

"Not till we get back to school, we all made a deal."

"Santana I will not pretend that this is what I wanted for you, but if this is what you choose, if it pans out into something real, your father and I will support you." Santana tearfully hugged her mother tightly and it was that sight that the others walked in on. Brittany rushed to Santana, "why are you crying? Did something bad happen?"

"No baby, just a lot of emotions, talking about the future and all." Brittany looked confused, "you said that your future was where ever I was." Santana smiled, "that's right baby and it still is, but colleges like yes or no answers, but I guess we will find out when we get back to school right." Brittany nodded and the two headed into the living room to watch TV.

They watched Christmas specials on TV until Brittany asked Angela if she could finish decorating the tree. "Sure thing honey, I'm heading to bed but the decorations are in that box so help yourself." She went upstairs leaving the girls alone in the living room. Santana stretched out on the couch and watched as Brittany pranced around the tree adding little things here and there. She couldn't help but smile; Christmas made Brittany an even happier human being, if such a thing is possible. Before Santana knew it she fell asleep on the couch and what seemed like minutes later she opened her eyes only to realize that it was light outside. A quick glance at the clock confirmed that it was 7am and Santana sat up and looked around for Brittany. It didn't take long to find her, it seemed that after Brittany finished the tree she was so tired she just passed out underneath it and that is how Santana found her the next morning, asleep under the tree like an overexcited 5 year old. Santana smiled and laid down next to her and covered them both in a blanket, hoping to get a few more minutes of sleep. About an hour later Angela came downstairs to start breakfast and when she saw the girls cuddled up under the tree she grabbed her camera and took several picture before trying to wake them up.

"Santana, Brittany, wake up and come help me with breakfast." Santana made a frustrated face and pushed her mother's hand away. "We're sleeping." Angela laughed and continued to poke at her daughter. "Oh really, you sound pretty awake for being asleep to me." Santana opened her eyes and glared at her mother, "you're evil."

"Where do you think you got it from? Now come on and help me with food. You guys did a nice job on the tree; it looks like something out of a magazine." Angela walked away and headed toward the kitchen. Santana sat up and tried to wake Brittany up, "come on baby, let's go get food."

"What time is it?

"Around 8, you fell asleep after finishing the tree which looks like a window display in NY it's so perfect, my family is gonna love it when they come over tonight." Santana stood up from the floor and offered Brittany her hand to help her up. Brittany slowly got up from the floor and stretched before they both walked into the kitchen. They made themselves some toast and eggs before helping Angela set up for the Christmas Eve dinner that they were hosting that evening. Santana started prepping the roast that needed to go in the oven within the next two hours if it was going to be ready in time for dinner. Brittany was polishing the silver and separating them out into individual sets that she would later wrap in a napkin. Angela was getting the vegetables ready and was trying to explain to her husband how many chairs they needed to get out of the storage shed. It was crazy busy in that kitchen for a while but once it settled down, Santana put on the soundtrack from White Christmas because she knew it was Brittany's favorite. The women sang along with the music as they prepared the food and when everything was in the oven Santana and Brittany helped set the table before heading upstairs to shower and get ready. It was around 2pm and dinner was set to begin around 5 so they had plenty of time to get ready and relax a little before family arrived.

Brittany showered first while Santana figured out what she wanted to wear and when Brittany opened the bathroom door Santana walked in and stopped dead in her tracks. Brittany was brushing her hair and instead of the ducky robe she usually wore, she was wearing only a towel that didn't cover very much at all. Santana's mouth ran dry and she without hesitation closed the door and locked it behind her. She walked over to Brittany and stood behind her, "San are you gonna shower or not?" Santana grabbed the brush out of Brittany's hand and put it down on the counter.

"San what are you doing?" Brittany barely got the question out before Santana spun her around, losing the towel in the process, and started kissing her feverishly. It didn't take much for Brittany to return the kisses, though she was still confused as to what started it.

"5 weeks." Santana stated plainly.

"What?" Brittany was in more confused.

"It's been five weeks since we've had sex and then you start walking around in nothing but a towel and I gotta tell you babe my sexual frustration is getting to that point where I can't take it anymore." Santana went back to kissing only to be pushed away slightly by Brittany who was trying to catch her breath. "So this sexual frustration…what are you going to do about it?" Brittany smiled a wicked smile that Santana knew meant she had the green light to continue. Santana turned Brittany back around so that she was facing the mirror.

"First, you are going to hold onto the counter, trust me your going to need the support. Second, I'm going to wrap my arms around you waist and third, you are going to look in the mirror and watch while I fuck you." Usually when they had sex it was soft and intimate and romantic, but after this long waiting, neither girl was opposed to have down and dirty sex. From time to time, Brittany also liked when Santana got a little rougher with her and took charge and they both loved dirty talk. It took everything Brittany had not to go weak in the knees on the spot, but she leaned against the counter like she was told and started to shiver in anticipation as she felt Santana's hands wander.

"Santana."

"Yeah baby."

"Don't tease." Santana smirked.

"I don't think you are in any position to tell me what to do, I'm in charge remember?" Brittany couldn't speak, she just nodded, but that wasn't enough for Santana. "I can't hear you baby, who is in charge?" Brittany knew she wasn't going to get any relief until she said it, "yo…you…you are." She managed to stutter out in a whisper.

"I can't hear you baby, who is in charge?" Santana could fill how wet Brittany was from where her hand was, but she was going to make this last.

"You are." This time it was louder.

"Who do you belong to?"

"You, I'm yours."

"That's right baby. All mine. You want me to fuck you?"

"Uh huh." Santana got right near Brittany's ear and whispered, "say it. Say I want you to fuck me Santana."

Brittany was trying to focus on talking, but no words came out. "Say it or I stop now, tell me what you want."

"I want you to finger fuck me while I look at us fucking in the mirror, I want you to make me cum till I scream your name, then I want to eat you out and make you cum so hard you can't walk straight until new years." Brittany was over playing this game, she needed Santana inside her and she needed the release NOW. Santana was taken aback, but quickly recovered and careful slipped two fingers into Brittany's dripping wet pussy. Brittany shuttered at the sudden contact but swallowed the moan.

"Your parents will hear."

"Mom has music blaring and dad went to go pick up Carmen from the airport, it's just you and me." Santana started to slowly move her fingers in and out at a slow pace, a pace that she knew would drive Brittany crazy. Brittany kept on pushing back trying to get more friction and to help relieve the building desire she was feeling, but Santana wasn't having it. Brittany had her eyes snapped shut, in the throes of ecstasy when Santana stopped her motions. "Keep going."

Santana shook her head, "no, not unless you follow my rules."

"Rules?"

"You keep your eyes open, keep looking at us fucking in the mirror and we go at the pace I set, understood?" Brittany nodded, "good girl, now eyes front and if your good I add another finger." Brittany was so turned on she thought she would faint before she could even climax. Santana watched herself in the mirror and she had to admit it was fucking hot, seeing her pump her fingers in and out of Brittany while Britt was patting heavy.

"San…please."

"Please what baby?"

"I need more." Santana, without warning added a third finger and Brittany almost lost it then and there, but she held on. "You like that baby, you like it when I fuck you?"

"I love it when you fuck me, and its so hot watching us in the mirror, but I'm not going to last much longer."

Santana smiled, "then I guess we need to speed this up."

"Harder and faster San." Santana grinned, "as you wish baby." Santana started pumping a feverish pace and soon Brittany was clutching the counter as a means of support and Santana's fingers were still buried inside her as her entire body shook with the affect of an orgasm. When the shaking stopped and Santana pulled her fingers out and licked them each clean Brittany quickly grabbed Santana and moved her so that she was leaning against the counter before dropping to her knew and undoing Santana's jeans button. "What are you doing down there Britt Britt?" Playing dumb was never Santana's strong suit.

"I told you, you will feel my tongue inside you until new years." When her pants and underwear were off Santana didn't have to wait long before she felt Brittany's tongue licking and sucking her drenched folds. Santana held her head in place and Brittany worked at a feverish pace. It wasn't going to take much because watching herself fuck Brittany already made Santana wetter than she had ever been so not too long after Brittany started to go down on her Santana felt her stomach start to tighten and she knew what was coming. "Britt, I so fucking close baby, I'm gonna cum so hard." Brittany buried herself deeper and moved her tongue faster and when she felt Santana on the brink she latched onto her clit and sucked until Santana juices started flowing even more with the orgasm that was ripping through her body. When the shaking had stopped and her breathing evened out Brittany came back up so that they were eye to eye.

"You should get in the shower before your mom thinks we are doing something dirty." Santana smirked as Brittany picked up her towel and wrapped it around her body again.

"We were doing something dirty."

"Exactly, now you shower and I'm going to go change and I will see you downstairs when you are ready." Brittany left the bathroom and Santana dragged herself into the shower and quickly washed her hair. When she was done getting dressed and putting on her makeup she figured that her dad was probably home with Carmen and that meant that the rest of her family wasn't that far behind. She made her way downstairs and could hear Brittany laughing at something Carmen had just said.

"Carmen I told you to stop telling Brittany stories from when we were little." Santana shot her cousin a glare, but Carmen smiled in response. "But how will she know that you used to run around the house naked whenever we had company?"

"I think it's cute San." Santana leaned over the couch and gave Brittany a kiss as she sat down. "I think you're cute."

"I think I'm going to vomit if you two are going to be like this all night." Brittany laughed and got up from the couch, "come on you two, let's go help you mom in the kitchen." All three women helped Angela finish up the meal and start to lay everything out. As they put the last of the food out the whole family started to show up. Soon it was a rush of people and food and talking loudly. When dessert came around everyone moved into the living room with their pie and coffee. The little kids were each allowed to open one present each and the adult politely chatted away. Brittany eventually found herself on the floor with the little kids reading them Christmas stories while they starred at her, eyes wide in wonder. Santana looked at the sight before her; at her family gathered together celebrating, at her cousins listening contently to Brittany read, at how perfect everything seemed. At one point Brittany looked up and caught her staring and smiled before returning to the book. Santana couldn't help but smile and laugh a little because she couldn't think of a more perfect Christmas than the one that was laid out in front of her and she had a feeling that the coming year would be the year that everything fell into place.

**So I apologize again for the wait, but the next like 4 chapters are already written so review if you want them up. The sex scene was written on impulse because well, if you had the chance to have Brittana have sex would you miss out on it, no of course not. Hope you liked it and you will find out what school Santana is talking about so secretively in the next chapter, but if you want to take a guess as to what you think it might be in the review section then be my guest.**


	35. We Are Happy To Offer You

**Some of you guessed what school Santana was talking about, hope that this lives up to everyones expectations. Glad everyone liked the last chapter and hope you enjoy this one (even if it is short).**

The glee kids had made an agreement before they left for Christmas break; the seniors would wait to open their letters from colleges until they came back to school and until everyone had all their letters from all their applied schools. The first day back the hallways were buzzing with seniors chatting and waving their letters around, either in triumph or frustration. The glee kids powered through the day trying to ignore the letters that settled in the bottom of all of their backpacks. Glee could not come fast enough for the kids; they all filed in and quickly took out their letters, waiting for Mr. Shue to show up which he did on time for once.

"Alright everyone, I know you all have been waiting to open your letters so I'm not going to waste any more time. Any particular way you all want to do this?"

"Mr. Shue we were thinking about going by state, like anyone who applied to California or New York schools." Finn offered.

"Good idea you guys, so let's start with California, did anyone apply to schools there?" Quinn, Santana and Brittany all raised their hands and then all three opened the letters from California based schools. Quinn and Santana scanned the paper in their hands and looked up and caught each other's gaze. A smile spread across each girls face and they quickly stood up and threw their arms around each other as they started laughing.

"They either got in or are really good at dealing with rejection." Tina smirked from the back row.

"Quinn and I are officially invited to be a part of 2012 fall semester at UCLA." Everyone was naturally impressed and congratulated the girls. Santana turned to Brittany who looked confused. "What' wrong baby, did they turn you down, I didn't even know you applied to a California school?"

"They keep talking about awards San and I don't it, did I win a contest?" Santana took the letter from Brittany and as she read her eyes grew wide, "Brittany, that means they want to give you a scholarship, they want to pay some of your tuition to go to their school. Baby you got in to…," her eyes drifted up to the corner of the page which bore a distinct insignia, "Chapman." Everyone looked floored; Santana scooped Brittany up in a fierce hug and kissed her hard. When she put her down Puck hollered from the front row, "someone warn California, the unholy trinity is heading their way." The girls sat down and the process continued. Some kids got into school in Washington and Oregon, Utah, Michigan, Massachusetts and Texas. There were some rejections, but everyone had been accepted somewhere. When the only states left were on the east coast everyone got very excited, they agreed NY would go last, so next up was Florida. Brittany was the only one who applied to a school there so she held her letter to Florida State which had an excellent dance program, but quickly handed it to Santana, "I'm too scared, what if they hated my audition tape?"

"Then they are stupid and blind." Santana took the letter from her girlfriend and opened it. Santana read the letter and turned to Brittany, "they liked your audition B, you got in." Brittany looked like a kid on Christmas as she held the letter.

Finally the moment had come for the New York colleges. Quinn and Santana went first opening their letters from NYU and Columbia, which they both got into. Kurt and Rachel held their NYADA letters and Brittany held her Julliard letter. They decided to open them all at the same time so soon there was paper flying everywhere. Kurt and Rachel started screaming and jumping around, they clearly got in. Brittany promptly broke down into tears, clutching the paper close to her chest and mumbling over and over something about how she wasn't stupid; she ran into Santana who held her close.

"I know you're not stupid Britt. What baby, did you get rejected? It's ok Britt Britt, you got into lots of great colleges; fuck them if they don't see how special you are." Brittany pulled back and shook her head, she handed Santana the paper, "I did it, I got in." Santana read the first line and sure as she was standing there, Brittany had gotten accepted into Julliard. She pulled Brittany close to her and hugged her tight and the two of them stood there crying. Brittany repeated over and over again that she wasn't stupid, Santana pulled back and locked eyes with her girlfriend, "no you're not stupid, your perfect and brilliant and I'm so very proud of you, you got into the most elite performing arts school baby, so you tell anyone who calls you stupid to fuck off you're a college girl now." The smile on Brittany's face lit up the room; they all knew what it meant to her to get into the school. They all started to freak out and celebrating when Mr. Shue focused them all again.

"Congratulations to all of you, you all worked so hard and you deserve to celebrate a little, so I was thinking about giving a free day to do what you guys wanted." Santana quickly raised her hand, "Mr. Shue, there is one thing I'd like to say."

Will sat down and let Santana take the floor, "there was one more school I applied to that I didn't tell anyone about, not even Britt because I'm pretty sure I didn't get in, but Puck applied there too and we would like to open our letters here with all of you, if that's ok." Brittany looked shocked and a little mad that Santana didn't tell her, but everyone wanted to see what school it was so they eagerly agreed. Puck came down to stand next to Santana with his letter in hand. They handed each other their letters so that they were opening each other's letter. They carefully read the contents and after staring at each other for a moment they dropped the letters and with huge smiles on their faces, hugged each other tightly.

Rachel spoke up first, "well you both clearly got in, where did you get accepted to?"

Before they could answer Brittany picked up the fallen paper and asked, "What does '_Duty, Honor, Country_' mean? Is that the name of the school?" The whole room went quiet in confusion. Brittany handed the letter to Quinn who's jaw hit the floor before she looked back at Santana, "I can't believe you didn't tell anyone about this."

"Tell us about what?" Kurt was growing concerned as was everyone else.

"We didn't think we would get in." Puck answered defensively. "With my grades and both of our discipline records we didn't think we stood a chance in hell."

"Oh my God, wouldn't get in where?" Mike asked.

Quinn handed the paper back to Brittany and pointed to the top of the paper, "West Point, they were both accepted into West Point." The whole room went quiet, everyone was shocked. Brittany walked over to Santana and Puck and hugged them, clearly not understanding what just happened. "San why does everyone look sad?"

Rachel took Brittany by the hand and turned her so they were facing each other, "Brittany, do you know what West Point is?"

"A college?"

"Sort of. Brittany, it's a collegiate military academy, when people graduate they are commissioned officers in the US Army. If they go there, when they graduate Puck and Santana will be Second Lieutenants in the Army."

All of a sudden Brittany realized what that meant, she turned to Santana clearly upset, "you joined the Army and didn't tell me."

"Brittany, I thought they would shoot me down, but I guess having coach write me a letter of rec worked out and I didn't want to get you upset over nothing, they were my first choice, but I never dreamed they would accept me."

"Well they did, so what are you going to do?"

Santana swallowed hard, "I want to go Brittany, I would get a college education, I'd be close to you, Quinn, Rachel and Kurt, I'd get a jump start on law school and I'd have a steady job as an officer in the Army. I want this so that we can start building our life together. Britt me being in the Army means health insurance, a house of our own, steady income and I get to protect people and get my education at the same time."

"Santana have you turned on the news lately, there are so many wars going on I lost fucking count. They will ship off to God knows where the second you graduate. You could die over there, you could die and I could lose you and that would kill me." Brittany was screaming with tears running down her face. Before Santana could defend herself Brittany ran from the choir room. Santana started to go after her, but someone stopped her.

"Let me try." Finn stood there and offered a small smile. "And for the record what you guys are doing is really brave and I think you both will do well there. The education is solid and you'll both do well when it comes to the military training, I know it."

"What makes you so sure?" Santana was now confused.

"They don't let just anyone in. My dad went there and my mom said it made him the man he was. You shouldn't have lied to Brittany, but I get why you did it, but you have to explain to her why it's so important for you to do this." Finn took off after Brittany leaving Santana to figure out what she was going to say to make this right.

**So I still hate Finn, but I wrote this chapter months before that brutal outing. I also know that Finn's dad wasn't shown in a good light, but this is my interpretation so roll with it.**


	36. Come Back To Me

Finn finally found Brittany sitting on the 50 yard mark on the football field. He hopped over the small fence and walked over to the cheerleader, taking a seat next to her. He draped his coat over her shoulders; it was still cold and there was still snow on the field.

"Please don't tell me that I shouldn't be mad at her, she lied to me, or at least she didn't tell me the truth. She could get killed Finn. She made this huge decision without telling me and I don't know if I'm proud of her for getting in, or mad for lying or scared because of what could happen."

"Brittany, I don't pretend to know anything about your relationship with Santana, but let me ask you this. Does she protect you, keep you safe?"

"Ever since we were little."

"Does she make sure you are safe and taken care of regardless of what happens to her?"

Brittany nodded.

"Does she work hard?"

"Yeah."

"Then West Point is exactly where she belongs. Brittany I know what she is doing is scary, I lost my dad when he was in the Army, but you can't focus on that or it will eat you alive. Santana protects you, she protects all of us; last year when the shooting happened and you got hurt protecting us she carried you out to the paramedics even though she was hurt and then she went back in to get everyone else out. She got everyone of us out and took down the shooter. That kind of bravery and leadership can't be taught Brittany, it's a part of who Santana is. Brittany if she does this she will get a great college education, she'll get ready for law school for the future, she'll be trained to be a great leader and a good soldier. She gets the best of both worlds, she gets to learn and get her education while learning how to protect people, how to protect you, her country and the family you guys are going to have. She has what it takes to be an awesome leader in the Army Brittany, just hear her out, let her tell you why this means so much to her."

Brittany looked at Finn and nodded, "fine, I'll listen to what she has to say."

"She loves you Brittany, she's just trying to plan for your future, she wants to provide for you while doing something that really helps people." Finn stood up and offered his hand to Brittany and helped her to her feet. They both walked back into school and into the choir room. Santana promptly stood up and ran to Brittany, "baby please let me explain."

"I'm listening, tell me why this is so important to you."

Santana swallowed hard, "Brittany all my life I've only ever been really good at one thing, protecting you. I know that I'm pretty smart and that I can dance pretty well, but the one thing that I have always been good at was protecting you. I've been protecting you since we were kids and I will never stop and it occurred to me that maybe I can do more. I can protect you and a lot of other people; I can be a real leader and actually change the world even if it is just in some small way. I can wake up every day and go to work knowing that me doing my jobs keeps you safe and happy. I will have my college education and after active duty I can go back for law school which they will pay for Brittany. We'll have a house on base while I'm in the Army, my pay grade will be higher than someone who enlists right out of high school so we will be financially secure, we can save up and pay off your school expenses and start planning for our first child. Brittany I want to do this for so many reasons; the education is amazing, the training will help me in the future, the job I will have after will let me do what I love, I'll be able to fight for my country and protect the people I love, and I want to do this so I can give us everything we ever wanted. I can't explain it perfectly Brittany, but I have to do this, something is calling me to be a part of this. I want to go, more than anything, this is my chance to be a part of something that is bigger than myself; but I won't go if you don't want me to go. You say the word and I'll go to NYU with Q."

The whole room was quiet and starred at Brittany for an answer. The blonde looked at the floor with her eyes shut for a moment before she spoke, "You've been my hero since we were toddlers and you kicked sand in Frank Gretens face for calling me a stupid head. I guess I would be willing to have you be everyone else's hero too, on one condition."

"Name it."

Brittany stepped closer to Santana and pulled her into a tight hug, "you come back to me. I know you can't promise nothing bad will happen, but right now I need you to lie to me and promise me that you will always come home to me."

Santana took Brittany's hands in her's and looked her right in the eye, "I will always come back home to you. You're my girl, my soul mate, my whole heart and I always return for what is mine. I will always come back safe to you, you have my word." Brittany held Santana tightly to her, "thank you for lying to me."

"I would never lie about how much I love you." They both stayed like that for a while, when they finally pulled apart Brittany brushed the tears from her eyes and smiled.

"If this is what you really want to do, if this is where you think you belong, what you're being called to do, then I want it too. I want you to go, both of you." Brittany turned to Puck and got dead serious, "you are doing this together, you keep her grounded, keep her focused, keep her safe and so help me God if she doesn't come back to me in one piece I will break every appendage you have starting with the smallest one; got it?" Puck nodded and turned a funny mix of red and pale white.

Once everything settled down and the kids started talking about graduation and Nationals and when they would be moving. Finn's phone went off and he waved at everyone to be quiet, "hey guys our folks said we are having a party at our house to celebrate everyone getting into their schools, this Saturday at noon and your families can come too if they want. My mom wants a list of schools that people got into so she can have it written on the cake." All the kids wrote down the names of the schools they got into, most of them had already made up their minds about where they were going so they only wrote down one school name. Mr. Shue decided that practice was over and that they would continue practicing for Nationals next practice, they all deserved time to enjoy their accomplishments.

**Review for more.**


	37. The Long Haul

The rest of the school week was uneventful; getting used to being back at school, back to glee practice and life in general. All the kids were looking forward to the party on Saturday; a chance to relax and enjoy the prospect of their futures. Friday night Santana was digging through her closet, trying desperately to find something to wear to the party. There were clothes thrown all around her room and it looked a little like her closet had thrown up. Brittany stood in the doorway watching her girlfriend run around her room in a state of panic.

"Santana it's just a party, just wear something nice."

"Brittany I am trying to find something that is nice, but I don't know if I should wear a dress or pants or a skirt, I can't match anything together and now my room is a mess."

"Why are you so flustered about this one party?"

"I don't know I guess I just want people to take me seriously. I don't want them to think how could she get into college when she looks like a prostitute?"

"You don't, nor have you ever, looked like a prostitute. Well except for that one time you wanted to play dress up in the bedroom." Santana blushed beat red while Brittany walked over to the closet and pulled out a pair of black pants, a black blazer and a red top that was thrown haphazardly on the bed and handed them to Santana. "There all done, it's professional, fun, sexy and sharp. It practically screams college girl."

Santana shook her head, "what would I do without you?"

"Apparently walk around naked."

"You say that like its bad."

"Well I think you naked is great, but the Army has a dress code babe." Britt gave Santana a quick kiss and walked to the doorway, "I'm going to bed, I'll see you in the morning." Santana watched Brittany walked down the hall to her bedroom and close the door softly behind her. Once she cleared off all the clothes from her bed she settled into her mattress and drifted slowly off to sleep. The next morning Santana woke up to her alarm going off at 9am. She quickly shut off the offending noise and rolled out of bed and made her way down stairs. Brittany was already sitting at the table eating cereal and her mom was in the kitchen finishing a pot of coffee. As she took a step off the last stair her little brother came rushing past her.

"Move it Satan." Before he got far enough away, Santana grabbed him by his arm and turned him around, twisting his arm around his back and pinning him to the floor.

"What did I say about calling me that brat?"

"Santana let him up, you're going to break his arm." Santana ignored her mother, "apologize dweeb."

"Christ Santana, I'm sorry. No wonder you joined the army, you don't even need a damn gun." Santana let the boy up and let go of his arm, "and don't you forget it runt." Santana grabbed a bowl from the cabinet and sat down next to Brittany who was still contently reading the cereal box.

"Santana what time does the party start at the Hummels?"

"Noon. Britt told Kurt we would get there early to help set up, but you guys don't have to come with us that early."

"Mom I don't want to go to some stupid high school party." Her brother winning earned him a flick on the ear from his sister, "good thing you aren't invited then isn't it?"

"Santana, quit it. Your father and I will meet you two at the party a little after noon. He gets off his shift at 11 and so after he changes we will be over. Now go get ready or you are both going to be late getting over there to help." Santana and Brittany both finished their food and headed up stairs to change. When Santana returned she had her outfit on hangers in her hand and was wearing sweatpants and a sweatshirt with running shoes.

"Santana why aren't you dressed?"

"Relax mom, Brittany is driving over there and I'm running. If I start getting in shape now the training at school will be easier to break into." After arguing that regardless of how cold it was she was still going to run, Brittany came downstairs all dressed in a navy blue dress that hit half way down her calf accented with a black sweater. She took the clothes from Santana and went to go put them in her car, they loaded up their things and soon Santana took off running down the street and Brittany followed her in the car.

Kurt and Finn's house was about 3 miles from Santana's house and the run wasn't hard so Santana handled it fairly well. She arrived and saw Brittany's car parked in the drive way behind Finn's truck. She rung the door bell and it soon swung open and Carole quickly ushered Santana inside.

"We thought maybe you had frozen out there, why on earth would you run here when you could have easily driven Santana?"

"Gotta get in shape for training Mrs. H, West Point doesn't care how cold it is." Carole smiled and pointed to the living room and kitchen area. Kurt and Brittany were trying to hang a banner with Finn trying to blow up balloons using the air tank and Blaine was running around in the kitchen helping to set up the food.

"Well, well, well, hell may not have frozen over, but Satan sure looks cold."

"Kurt you're soooo funny, and equally as lucky that there are too many witnesses around." Santana shed her jacket and helped set up tables for food and set up the speakers for the music. Around 11 when everything looked like it was in place Santana grabbed her clothes from the car and headed up stairs for a shower and to change. Half an hour later, she came back downstairs looking very sharp in her suit, her hair loosely resting on her shoulders and her suit clinging tight to her frame. Brittany walked over to her and wrapped her arm around Santana's waist, "I told you that suit would look amazing for this party. Come on they are setting out the food right now." Brittany walked over and helped Carole and Kurt lay out the trays of food. Santana turned around to see what she could do and she quickly spotted Burt hauling in more fire wood from the backyard.

"Mr. H let me take some of that." Santana scooped the wood out of his arms and set it down next to the fire and added a few pieces to the already burning pile.

"Thanks Santana. Excited about the party?"

"Yes sir, it was really great of you and Mrs. H to have everyone over to celebrate."

"Well, Carole loves any excuse to throw a party and besides after what you all have been through and accomplished you deserve a god damn parade, a party was the least we could do. And none of that 'sir' stuff, Burt will do fine."

"Burt then."

"So Kurt tells me that your girlfriend got into Julliard. He damn near ruined his voice and my hearing he was screaming so loud when he came home with that NYADA letter in hand."

"Yeah, Brittany is so happy and going to New York with Kurt and Rachel, it means a lot to her. Makes me feel better that she will have people to live with in apartments and friends to keep an eye out for her."

"You two aren't living together; I thought you got into NYU with Quinn?"

"I did, but Puck and I also got accepted into West Point so living together sort of went out the window."

"That's right, I forgot about that. That's a great accomplishment getting in that program. How's Brittany handling it?"

"She was mad because I didn't tell her I applied, but once we got a chance to work it out she was fully supportive, but she is naturally concerned. She knows that it will help me through law school and I can even stay in the military and work through JAG. It's steady pay, I get to serve my country and do what I love, practice law and support my family." Santana nodded towards Brittany.

"Sounds like you have it figured out. Does that mean you and her are in it for the long haul?"

"If she's willing to put up with me, absolutely." Just then the doorbell rang and Burt went to go answer the door. Glee clubbers filtered in over the next half hour and so did their respective families. Soon the living room, kitchen and dining room were filled with people talking and eating and just generally having a good time. Santana broke away from Brittany and went in search of Kurt who she found in the kitchen helping his step mother get the cake set up.

"Kurt I have a favor to ask of you."

Kurt eyed her carefully, "You're not going to make me do anything illegal are you?"

"What? No dummy, I need you help picking out a birthday/graduation present for Brittany. Quinn already said she would help so between the three of us I figure I can't miss."

"I never turn down the chance to shop, just tell me where and when, I'm in."

"Thank you, I'll text you next week ok?" Just then Burt asked everyone to gather around the dining room table for cake. Carole set down one very large sheet cake that had all the colleges that people were attending on it as well as Congrats Glee Club Seniors written in icing.

"Now everyone, you will notice that there is one school missing from this cake and just so you know we didn't forget, Burt and I wanted to have a special treat for our two West Point soldiers." Santana and Puck both shared the same look of confusion as Finn set down a small box and slowly lifted the small cake inside. When he put it on the table Santana was blown away; the cake was expertly decorated with fondant that looked like army fatigues and it had the West Point emblem on the center of the cake with Congrats Santana and Puck written around the circular top. The sides were decorated with the motto of the academy and it was a beautiful cake. Everyone clapped and whistled while Santana and Puck smiled and blushed.

"We are all so proud of all you kids and how hard you all have worked. We just know you're going to win Nationals this year and close you senior year out with a bang. It won't be the same around here without you guys running around singing journey and show tunes like no one else can hear you, but you are all going to do such amazing things in college. So I would like to toast the graduating Glee club members, you all entered this club for different reasons, some good, some bad, but somewhere along the way you all grew up and matured into beautifully strong men and women. You went from a group of merry misfits who didn't fit together and evolved into a family. You bring out the best in each other and seeing how you all have changed is simply amazing. Some of you have found your voice, others found their talent, some of you found your best friend while others found their soul mate and most importantly you all found yourselves and created a wonderful group of people who genuinely love each other. There is not a doubt in my mind that when you all graduate you will go off and do wonderful things in this world; whether you'll become teachers, lawyers, doctors, dancers or stay at home parents I know that you will be successful as long as you follow your dreams. So a toast to the graduating seniors of the original New Directions group, may you all remember that humble beginnings are the stepping stones to a successful future; to New Directions." With tears in their eyes, everyone raised their glasses in the air and clanked them.

After the cake was passed out and everyone finished, Kurt called for their attention, "well this party just got way to serious so I say we party it up and dance till we faint." He hit the play button on his ipod and a very familiar song filled the room. All the teens grabbed a partner and started to dance to the familiar Journey song that started it all.

**Hope this party chapter lightened the mood slightly and next up will be Santana's shopping trip, any guesses as to what she might be buying?**


	38. Terms of Engagement

**I was going to update this before now but my knee surgery took a touch longer than they expected but I'm home now healing nicely**.

The next weekend Kurt was awakened by a text from Santana that told him to be ready at 11 to go shopping. When Santana pulled in front of the Hummel house Quinn was sitting in the front seat so Kurt got in the back.

"So what exactly are we going shopping for?"

"She won't tell me Kurt, I've been trying since she picked me up to get her to tell me what we are doing."

"God have you two ever heard of a surprise. I know what I am getting, but I need a second opinion and a gay man opinion which is where you two come in." Ten minutes later they parked at the mall and walked inside. They walked through half the mall before Santana turned into Jared Jewelers.

"Good afternoon, can I help you with something today?"

"Yes, my name is Santana Lopez, I called earlier to have a selection set aside for me to look through."

"Of course Ms. Lopez, let me go get that for you, please take a seat." The clerk went over to a case and unlocked it while Quinn and Kurt stood next to Santana. "San, what are we buying exactly, are you getting Britt a necklace for her birthday or something?" Santana was about to open her mouth to answer when the clerk set the jewelry down in front of them, "here we are Ms. Lopez, our best selection of engagement rings that fall within your budget. Just look these over while I grab the size and price chart and we can sort through them." As the clerk walked away again Santana turned to see Quinn and Kurt who were floored, shocked and slightly pale which was saying something seeing as they were both tragically pale anyway.

"Are you two actually going to help or not? I'm thinking a square cut."

"En…En…Engagement rings. You are buying Brittany an engagement ring?"

"Well Quinn it is the logical step before you marry someone to ask them and present them with a ring."

"Don't be a smartass, Santana this is huge, like super huge, like this is a decision that affects the rest of your life huge. Are you sure about this?"

"Q, I know we are young, but I'm not leaving for NY until she is my fiancée and I will not leave for deployment before she is my wife. We won't get married till we graduate cuz underage marriage I for dumb people who are afraid of the future, we aren't that dumb, but I want her to have the ring and know that I am ready to make that commitment to her. She's my soul mate; I'd be crazy to let her think that I am anything other than 110% in this relationship for the long haul.

"This is so romantic; it's like a romantic movie, but better cuz I'm in it." Kurt sat down and looked through the rings with Santana.

"If this is what you really want Santana, then we will help." Quinn sat down on the other side of her friend. "Have you thought about how you are going to ask her yet?"

"Yep, it's all set up and ready to roll, I just need the perfect ring."

The clerk sat down and laid out a few rings to get them started. Santana poured over several rings before she asked the clerk a question.

"Is there a way to combine two designs?"

"Yes ma'am we can custom design any ring and we can certainly take two designs and create one that matches what you are looking for. Are there any two rings that you have in mind?" Santana handed him two rings that she had been eyeing for the last half hour. "I like the setting on this one and the cut and band design on this one."

"We can easily make you a custom design from these selections Ms. Lopez, would you like to engrave anything inside the band?"

"You can do that?"

"Yes ma'am, is there something that you have in mind?" Santana wrote down on a piece of paper what she wanted engraved. After they finalized the design the three teens went over to the register where the clerk was ringing them up. When the clerk told them the amount Kurt and Quinn were both floored as Santana handed him her credit card.

"Santana, did you rob a bank, you can tell me if you did?"

"No Q, I've been saving up for a long time and Liz kicked in some money too, but most of it is mine. She deserves the best and I'll go broke seeing that she gets it."

"Santana while that may in fact be the sweetest thing ever I'm pretty sure Britt would marry you if you asked her with the ring in a box of cracker jacks, matter of fact she might actually prefer that ring, it would be very Breakfast at Tiffany's."

"I know that Kurt, but every girl and probably even you, dreams about this moment and I want Brittany to have the best I can find, I want to be the one to make her dreams come true."

"That may in fact be the sweetest and gayest thing you have ever said."

"Bite me Quinn, lets see how sappy you get when you realize that you want to marry the midget." The clerk handed Santana her receipt and told her the ring would be ready in about three weeks. As they walked through the food court and waited in line for their lunch Quinn eyes the receipt before handing back to Santana, "be thankful they don't charge by the letter on the engraving fee, what does it say anyway?"

"Je t'aime, Je t'aime, je t'aime comme jamais auparavant." Quinn looked confused, but Kurt just beamed from ear to ear.

"And the translation for the girl who doesn't speak French."

Santana smiled, "I love you, I love you, I love you like never before. I figured since that song has kind of been our song since I sang it to her then it would be the perfect thing to put into the ring."

"Well I agree and I also would like to propose a toast to Santana, may her marriage proposal be one for the books and with any luck hopefully Brittany will say yes." They clunked the plastic cups before finishing their meals and heading home.

**Review to motivate me to write the next chapter. :-)**


	39. PTSD

**My apologies for the wait, but I just graduated from college so free time for a little while then grad school. So for this chapter I did the anniversary of the shooting which I may turn into two chapters. Then next chapter, I'll do Nationals and then graduation. If you really want me to do Prom I will. So some of the things I use in this chapter don't make that much sense in real life, like Santana and Puck would not have their uniforms already, but I have a thing for uniforms so for the sake to the story pretend they have them already.**

Santana knew that the next few weeks were going to suck; there was just no way around it. The anniversary of the shooting fell the day before Prom and it was just going to be an emotional week. At the moment Santana was with Puck picking up their uniforms because they had to be dressed in uniform to swear in and to take their official portraits. Brittany was mad she had to go to school instead of being with Santana, but Angela insisted that she would take plenty of pictures. When they were finished, Angela gave Santana and Puck a ride back to campus so they could go to their last few classes and to glee. By the time they got through traffic and back to school it was already time for glee so both of them headed for the choir room, temporarily forgetting that they were still in uniform, but they remembered quickly when they walked into glee and everyone stopped talking. Brittany got up and went over and gave Santana a kiss on the cheek, "my baby looks hot in uniform."

That seemed to cut the tension and everyone smiled. When they were all seated Mr. Shue stood up and wrote a single question mark on the board. "Look guys, I know that this week is Prom, but its also the shooting anniversary and I wanted to give everyone some space to do what feels right to them. If you want to do both we can do that, but I would like for everyone to come up an idea with something for the memorial service on Thursday because we have been asked to perform. Otherwise it's a fairly laid back week and we can work on Nationals stuff next Monday ok?" Brittany's hand shot up, "yes Brittany."

"I want to perform a song Mr. Shue, it's not so much for the memorial, but could I do it anyway, it kind of is my feelings about what happened." Before her teacher could say yes or no, Mike jumped in, "Britt, you of all people shouldn't have to ask to do a song, you almost died, hell you did die, you could get up there and sing the ABC's and I would cheer you on. Any objections?" Everyone shook their heads and Mr. Shue agreed as he stepped aside and took a seat next to Santana. "So I have a more emotional song idea for the memorial, but I heard this song on TV the other day and it made me think about what happened and this last week when I have had nightmares again this song calmed me down because it reminded me that the one thing that day couldn't take away from me was how I feel about you guys and about Santana." Brittany cued the music and the band started in. After a few bars she jumped in.

**It was the coldest night of the year,  
Snow-covered street lamps and Belvedere,  
The moon was just a sliver,  
The light was fading,  
The war was on its way,  
And we were waiting,**

Brittany pointed to Santana.

**You asked me how long I'd stay by your side,  
So I answered with only just one reply,**

Till the casket drops,  
Till my dying day,  
Till my heartbeat stops,  
Till my legs just break,  
Whoa, oh, whoa,  
whoa, whoa, oh,  
Whoa, whoa, oh,  
Till the casket drops,

A house made out of glass will surely shatter,  
So we built a fortress of red bricks and ladders,  
The ground, it started shaking,  
The bombs are falling,  
We could've walked away,  
We had a warning,

You asked me how long I'd stay by your side,  
So I answered with only just one reply,

Till the casket drops,  
Till my dying day,  
Till my heartbeat stops,  
Till my legs just break,  
Whoa, oh, whoa,  
whoa, whoa, oh,  
Whoa, whoa, oh,  
Till the casket drops,  


The thought of Brittany in an actual casket broke Santana's heart, but the message of the song fit their situation perfectly. San watched as Brittany moved with the music and it was clear she was upset and Santana thought she looked like she was in pain.

**So lay your burden down, baby,  
Lead me out the door,  
We can't escape this ricochet,  
I'm ready for this war,**

So lay your burden down, baby,  
Lead me out the door,  
We can't escape this ricochet,  
I'm ready for this war,

Till the casket drops,  
Till my dying day,  
Till my heartbeat stops,  
**Till my legs just break,**

Till the casket drops,  
Till my dying day,  
Till my heartbeat stops,  
Till my legs just break,  
Whoa, oh, whoa,  
whoa, whoa, oh,  
Whoa, whoa, oh,  
Till the casket drops. 

As the last few bars died out Brittany looked pale and just as she doubled over in pain Santana was at her side trying to help her. "Britt, tell me what hurts."

"Where he shot me." Santana cringed; this had been happening every night for the last week, the doctor told them it was psychological. The anniversary was triggering a physical reaction to her elevated psychological stress. "Brittany, look at me." Blue eyes quickly found her own. "Good, now Brittany, he isn't here ok, he's gone, you aren't hurt anymore and we are all fine, ok?" Brittany shook her head, "no he hurt me and he tried to hurt Quinn and it hurts." Santana waved at Quinn to get over to them. The blonde moved cautiously not wanting to make matters worse. Santana grabbed her arm and put her in front of Brittany, "Britt, look, Quinn is right here, she's alright baby, you saved her remember." Brittany wasn't listening so Santana grabbed her hand and placed it over Quinn heart. That made Brittany look up, "she's ok?" Quinn couldn't hide the tears anymore, "I'm right here Brittany."

"But he, he was going to hurt you." Everyone watched as Santana stood behind Brittany but kept talking, "Brittany I need you to focus on my voice, "he is NOT here, you saved Quinn's life and mine, we are ok and alive and so are you, you are not back there, YOU ARE SAFE." She wasn't yelling, but her tone was firm and sounded practiced, like they had done this before. The whole club watched as Brittany let go of Quinn and turned back to Santana, "you're ok."

"I'm ok."

"I'm not dead?" The question sounded like it came from a child who woke up from a bad dream and through tears Santana grabbed hold of Brittany and said, "no, you are not dead, you are right here with me and we are very much alive." Brittany promptly lost it and Santana held her tighter, "it's ok Britt, I'm right here."

"I hate it when that happens."

"I know babe, but it's gone now ok." The entire club looked at them with the same question written across their faces. It was too much for Brittany and she left the room. Quinn turned to go after her and Santana stopped her. "Let her be, I know where she is going. We knew she could have some problems with PTSD, we all have had some issues with it, but she gets it bad sometimes, like she thinks she's back here the day it happened and she relieves it and she can actually feel the pain from getting shot."

"When did this start Santana?" Their teacher was concerned. "Three days ago, the doctor thinks it will pass when the anniversary passes. I should go after her; she usually just needs a little time on her own because she gets embarrassed for thinking she is back there." Santana left the room and soon realized that she was being followed by the entire club. She led them to the gym where she knew Brittany would be sitting in the middle of the half court line. Santana pointed for them all to sit down and be quiet. She took her phone out of her pocket and started playing a song that she quickly started to sing along to.

Fare thee well  
My own true love  
Farewell for a while  
I'm going away  
But I'll be back  
Though I go 10,000 miles

10,000 miles  
My own true love  
10,000 miles or more  
The rocks may melt  
And the seas may burn  
If I should not return

Oh don't you see  
That lonesome dove  
Sitting on an ivy tree  
She's weeping for  
Her own true love  
As I shall weep for mine

Oh come ye back  
My own true love  
And stay a while with me  
If I had a friend  
All on this earth  
You've been a friend to me

Santana swayed side to side with Brittany still in her arms and they waited for the music to die down and even when it did they just stayed like that. The rest of the kids watched with tears in their eyes because they weren't sure if it was the sweetest or saddest thing they had ever seen.

"Come on Britt, let's go home."

"What if I never get over it Santana?"

"Then I will do this for the rest of our lives. You saved lives that day Britt, you are a hero and I will make sure you get treated like one everyday I'm with you."

"I love you San."

"I love you too Britt Britt."

**Short I know, but I'll do one more about the shooting and then move on. The next one will be longer and cover other people like Quinn and Rachel and the memorial. Review please.**


	40. To Life

**Once again, Santana wouldn't have her uniform, but I put it in anyway.**

Thursday came faster than anyone had expected and everyone was dealing with the stress in their own way. They had all discussed the possibility of just not showing up to class that day, the principal had actually given them that option, but in the end they decided that running from a ghost was not the way they wanted to remember those who weren't as lucky as they had been. It was going to be a half day and the memorial was set to begin at 5, giving everyone time to go home and get ready.

That morning Rachel and Quinn decided to get to school early to give themselves some time to get settled before the rest of the school filtered in for the day. They weren't that surprised to see the rest of the club waiting by their lockers when the two girls showed

up. Rachel looked around and then back to her friends, "where are Brittany and Santana?"

"Maybe they decided to stay home; Brittany hasn't been sleeping most of the week." Quinn suggested. Everyone shrugged and then turned to walk to the choir room. When they rounded the corner to that part of the hallway they all stopped talking and looked at the choir room door; not because they were overwhelmed, but because Santana and Brittany were fast asleep against the door. Brittany was still in PJ's as was Santana and Santana's Army jacket was draped across them both; it was pretty clear they had been there for a while. Puck reached down to try and wake Santana, but Santana grabbed his wrist before he could.

"Easy there killer, I was just trying to wake you up." Santana opened her eyes and glared at him, "I was awake and call me that again and see what happens." The clearly sleep deprived teen stood up and leaned back down to kiss Brittany on the forehead, "baby, come on everyone else is here we gotta wake up." Brittany slowly opened her eyes and Santana helped her stand up.

"What time have you guys been here since?" Mike asked what everyone was thinking.

"Since 4am. Britt couldn't sleep and asked me to bring her here. I guess we finally fell asleep. Maybe we should go inside?" Santana gathered up all their things and put her jacket on Brittany's shoulders before they all went inside the choir room. They all got ready for the day; Santana and Britt went and changed into real clothes and the other girls put on makeup. By 6:30 everyone was sitting quietly in the choir room, no one really wanted to say anything because they weren't sure what to say.

"We made it." Quinn broke the silence. "A whole year and we made it through. We survived that day, we stood by each other when Britt was in the hospital, we enjoyed our last summer before we had to start thinking about the future, we made it through the holidays, we finished applications and we all got into schools and now here we are again, back where everything changed. We made it and we still have each other."

Rachel gave Quinn a quick kiss. Puck stood up from his seat and held out a flask he had tucked in his back pocket. "I know we aren't supposed to drink, but today I am ignoring it. I propose a toast, to all of us. Like Quinn said, we made it, we braved hell, we suffered through the most terrifying thing that can ever happen to any group of kids and by some miracle we all lived through it and can tell the tale. We are going off to college and starting the next part of our lives. We are going to kick ass this year and WIN Nationals. We always talked about how this would be our year, our time to shine, our time to rise up from being those kids no one cared about and be the kind of people who demand respect. That's what we have done, we rose up from ashes and created the most amazing lives for ourselves, just like the phoenix, our beauty was born out of our destruction. We are family and family means no one gets left behind. So here's to the future, may we forever move forward, never look back and know that we do so standing tall, shoulder to shoulder, never alone because every step we take, we take with family." Puck held the flask high above his head, "to family." He took a swig out of the flash and passed it to Santana who in turn held it up, "to true love." She took a drink and with a wink handed it to Brittany, "to all our gay sharks." Everyone laughed as she took a sip and handed the flask to Mike.

"Too dancing to our own beats, no matter what others said." He then handed it to Tina.

"To appreciating that we all have something in us that is beautiful and being able to share it." She drank and passed it to Kurt.

"To our individual journeys that brought us to each other and made us embrace who we really are."

Blaine took the flask and held it high, "to all the happiness we have yet to experience." He drank and handed it to Finn. "To learning lessons the hard way." Sam took the flask from him, "to friends that pick you up every time you fall." He passed it to Mercedes, "to our talent, may we burn brighter than the lights of Broadway."

Rachel took the flask next, "to Glee, may we and everyone who follows in our footsteps let their freak flags fly." They all laughed as she drank and handed it to Quinn, "to the next years of our lives, may we find our true paths."

Puck took the flask one last time and in the circle of glee kids held it up again, "to the nights that became mornings, the laughter that turned into tears and memories that will stay with us all the days of our lives…l'chaim." All the kids yelled l'chaim and embraced each other. They all needed this time together, as a reminder that they would always have each other, that family is forever and that even on a day like today, they could once again rise and meet the occasion. When people started showing up to campus the kids went off to get ready for their classes. With the exception of a pop quiz in math, which seriously who does that, the day was fairly tame all things considered. When the bell rang at 12:30 Santana drove Rachel, Quinn, Brittany and herself to Santana's house where they were all getting ready for the memorial ceremony. Brittany and Santana were getting ready in her room and let Rachel and Quinn use Britt's room.

When Rachel needed help putting on her eye shadow she went in search for Brittany, but found Angela in the kitchen talking to Quinn. "Baby can you help me with this, I can't find Brittany and I always put on too much?" Quinn smiled and held out her hand and took the makeup from Rachel gesturing for her to sit on the bar stool. "Make it classy, I don't want to look like a whore at this function."

"Classy, got it, can't have my girlfriend looking like a whore for anyone but me now can I?" Quinn wiggled her eyebrows and Rachel kicked her knee lightly. "Oh, that hurt Rach."

"Oh grow up, it did not." Angela laughed, "You two are just as bad as they are, so many lovers quarrels."

"They are just as bad as whom?" Brittany came downstairs, looking beautiful in her deep purple dress, trying to adjust her earrings.

"Nothing mija, you look stunning Brittany." Brittany smiled and looked down at her dress, "you think it's appropriate right, not too much?"

"You look perfect Brittany." Quinn smiled to reassure her friend. "Of course she looks perfect, she always looks perfect." Santana commented as she walked downstairs, trying to fasten the cufflinks on her dress uniform. She finally held her arm out to her mother, "can you fix these, they hate me clearly?" Her mother fastened them and gave Santana a kiss on the cheek which made the teenager pull away, "ewww Mami kisses."

"Hush, one day you'll be someone's Mami and you'll want to give them kisses, don't judge what you don't understand Santana." Santana saluted her mom which made Angela laugh. Brittany went over and gave Santana a quick kiss before they went back to getting ready. Quinn joined Santana in the kitchen while they waited for Santana's parents to get ready.

"You look really good in that uniform."

"Tell me something I don't know."

"I'm serious, it suits you, you look happy in it, like you found your purpose. You're walking taller, you just seem…it's like you were always meant to wear it. I know I never got the chance to tell you, but I'm so proud of you and of Puck going to West Point, I know you are going to do amazing things in the Army and I feel safer knowing you are in it protecting me." Santana was quiet for a moment before she looked up at her friend. "Thank you, I know everyone was mad that Puck and I didn't say anything about it until we had already gotten in, but I just wanted to make sure it was really happening before I got everyone over excited. I know I can be at this Quinn, I know I can."

"I have every faith that you do fantastic things in the Army Santana. I want to see you running the whole thing one day." Santana laughed, "General Lopez has a nice ring to don't you think?" Quinn pushed Santana lightly on shoulder and pushed past her, "careful that your ego doesn't get to big." Both girls joined their girlfriends in the living room and soon Santana's parents were ready to go. The girls all drove in Santana's car with her parents taking their own car to the school. When they arrived there was of course massive amounts of press, both inside the school as well as outside. Quinn helped Rachel out of the car and they went ahead to set aside some seats for them and Santana and Brittany. When Santana opened Brittany's door and helped her out they shot each other knowingly glance before heading toward the crazy mix of photo flash bulbs and shouting reporters. The press knew who both girls were and the security had to hold them back even more aggressively as the crowd wanted to get an interview with the "heroes of WMHS". Santana was thankful to realize that the press that was inside, was inside for a reason; they were calmer and more respectful, not to mention they were organized, no screaming or yelling. A few news people asked for interviews with her and Brittany which she agreed too, but only if they could do them together. After three interviews Santana could see Brittany was losing her ability to hold back the tears, so she wasn't surprised when half way through the CNN interview she started choking on her words. The reporter paused and offered her a tissue. She finished the interview and it was beautiful and elegant and she was crying throughout the entire second half. Santana thanked the reporter and the two left, not knowing that that interview would garner national attention and become one f the most played interviews of the year.

When they walked in the gym it looked so different. The tables were covered with fancy linens and they were set with fine china and glassware. Santana found where Quinn and Rachel were settled and guided Brittany and herself over to that table. They got settled just before dinner was served and in the midst of dinner conversation Puck came over to tell Santana that they were up first. Santana finished her food and gave Brittany a quick kiss before following Puck up to the stage entrance. Figgins introduced them and stepped aside for Puck to take the podium.

"Good evening everyone and thank you all for attending this memorial dedication for the victims of the William McKinley high School shooting. It may seem difficult for many of us to think that on this day, one year ago, our lives were changed forever by the actions of one disturbed young man. Four people died that day; four children that never came home, four families that had to say goodbye to a loved one taken from this earth too soon. My friends and I were some of the few students left in the school during the shooting and we soon came face to face with the gunman. I am proud to say that in that choir room heroes stood up despite the danger. Brittany pushed Quinn out of the way of a bullet that would have killed her and while she was on the floor injured she managed to safe her girlfriend from being shot by tripping her. Brittany hates being called a hero, but in my heart she is one, without her willingness to sacrifice everything none of us would have survived that day. I wish I could offer the families who had to bury their children something more than a heartfelt apology, but it's all I have to offer you. I hope that you have found sense of peace or at the very least have found a way to move forward. This ordeal changed everyone and made us grow up. I realized that I wanted to do more with my life than be that guy who barely passed high school and that Santana and I to apply and accept positions at West Point. I can't take back what happened that day, but I promise you all here tonight, none of us will waste the second chance we got." Puck tucked his speech back into his pocket and let Santana take the stage.

"My friend mentioned that we have nothing to offer but an apology and that is not entirely true. When the anniversary neared I talked to Puck about making a real memorial; a symbol that would stand forever as a reminder for those who never came home and a place for survivors to pay respect for what happened that tragic day. I came up with a design and Puck did all the metal work so tonight if I may, I would like to present to you the official memorial that will be proudly displayed in the front entrance of the school from now on." Santana nodded to Puck who removed the sheet from the display and when he did the entire room gasped. The statue stood about 6 feet tall and was a beautifully crafted Phoenix bird. Santana turned back to the mic. "Now many of you know that the Phoneix bird is a mythical creature that rises from its own ashes after being engulfed in flames. It is born out of its own suffering; from pain comes new life and something beautiful. Now this bird is unique because…well as many of you well know I am the one who was forced to shoot the gunman and so at the end of the day the gun was in my hand. When the police closed the case I requested the gun for a special project. Ladies and gentlemen, parents and students, the gun was melted down and was then added to the other liquid metal that was eventually shaped into this statue. The metal of the gun used that day is in this statue, where it can never harm another person: some painful has given birth to something inspiring." Santana stepped away from the podium and everyone, every last person in that room, stood up and applauded, taking pictures as they did.

Puck picked up his guitar and Santana the mic. Eventually people sat back down and listened. "A few of the glee members will be performing for you this evening and Puck and I wanted to started with a reminder to our glee friends that we are so much more than a group of kids who like to sing and that day made us closer than ever before." Puck strummed the guitar and Santana started in.

(Santana)

I can't pretend  
To know how you feel  
But know that I'm here  
Know that I'm real

(Puck)  
Say what you want  
Or don't talk at all

(Santana)  
I'm not gonna let you fall 

(Both)  
Reach for my hand  
'Cause it's held out for you  
My shoulders are small  
But you can cry on them too

Everything changes  
But one thing is true  
Understand  
We'll always be more than a band

Yeah yeah yeah yeah

_[Santana]_  
You used to brave the world  
All on your own  
Now we won't let you go, go it alone

_[Puck]_  
Be who you wanna be  
Always stand tall

_(Both)_  
Not gonna let you fall

Reach for my hand  
'Cause it's held out for you  
My shoulders are strong  
But you can cry on them too

Everything changes  
But one thing is true  
Understand  
We'll always be more than a band

_[Santana]_  
I never knew you could take me so far  
I've always wanted to hope that you are the ones I need

_[Both]_  
Reach for my hand  
'Cause it's held out for you  
My shoulders are strong  
But you can cry on them too (cry on them too)

Everything changes  
But one thing is true  
Understand  
We'll always be more than a band

_[Santana]_  
Reach for my hand  
'Cause it's held out for you  
My shoulders are strong  
But you can cry on them too

Everything changes  
But one thing is true  
Understand  
We'll always be more than a band

Puck set the guitar down and they both returned to the seats amidst the thunderous clapping. Brittany gave Santana a kiss as she sat down and Quinn and Rachel stood up and took the stage.

(Quinn)

Don't be mad if I cry  
It just hurts so bad sometimes  
'Cause everyday it's sinking in  
And I have to say goodbye all over again 

(Rachel)  
You know I bet it feels good  
To have the weight of this world  
Off Your shoulders now  
I'm dreaming of the day  
When I'm finally there with You 

(Both)  
Save a place for me, save a place for me  
I'll be there soon, I'll be there soon  
Save a place for me, save some grace for me  
I'll be there soon, I'll be there soon 

(Rachel)  
I have asked the questions why  
But I guess the answer's for another time  
So instead I'll pray with every tear  
And be thankful for the time I had You here 

(Quinn)  
So You just save a place for me, save a place for me  
I'll be there soon, I'll be there soon  
Save a place for me, save some grace for me  
I'll be there soon, I'll be there 

(Rachel)  
I wanna live my life just like You did  
And make the most of my time just like You did

(Quinn)  
And I wanna make my home up in the sky  
Just like You did, oh, but until I get there  
Until I get there

Just save a place for me, save a place for me  
'Cause I will be there soon

Save a place for me, save a place for me  
I'll be there soon, I'll be there soon

Don't be mad if I cry  
It just hurts so bad

With tears in their eyes everyone applauded them as they took their seats. A few more glee kids sang and when the evening winded down they placed the new memorial outside in the front of the school and filled the area around it with cement, ensuring that it would never move from that spot. It wasn't an easy evening, but as Santana drove home with Brittany asleep in the passenger seat and Quinn and Rachel in the back she figured that the memorial provided everyone with a snese fo closure and that it helped them all let go of the hurt and start to move on.


	41. New Directions and New Beginnings

A week after the memorial dinner the Glee Club was gathered in the choir room at 4am for an entirely different reason: they were heading back to New York for Nationals. They all met at school and then were taking a bus to the airport. Santana was half asleep in one of the chairs trying to hold onto the cup of coffee in her hand. Brittany shook her awake and laughed when Santana almost dropped her drink. "I'm totally awake."

"Sure you are babe, come on the bus just got here." Santana chugged the last of her coffee and tossed the cup away as they left the building. Their parents helped load all the luggage onto the bus and made sure their kids were all settled before they got off the bus and stood along the side of the building. After a final head count they left for the airport with their parents shouting well wishes after the bus as they left the parking lot.

They arrived at the airport and slowly unloaded everything. Will gathered them together as they headed inside to check their bags. They had raised money to buy their tickets and then each parent had the opportunity to change it if they wanted to, the only rule was that they all be on the same flight. Angela surprised Santana and Brittany by turning their coach tickets into first class tickets, giving them a little bit more comfort on the flight. When everyone had boarded Will passed out the finalized schedule so they knew what was happening the second they landed. Once they landed in NY they loaded into the chartered bus that took them to the hotel. Once there Will left the kids in the lobby while he went up to the desk to check in. Santana broke away from Brittany and joined Will at the front desk.

"McKinley High, we have a reservation for two chaperone rooms and two student rooms." The desk clerk punched in a few numbers and as he was doing so Will saw Santana talking to the other clerk. The clerk handed Santana two room keys, "here you are Ms. Lopez, your keys to the suite you requested. The bill will be held on the card on file and the bellhop will be happy to take your bags up to the room. Enjoy your stay and let us know if you need anything."

"Thank you." Santana pocketed the keys and started back over to Brittany when Will stopped her. "Santana how come you got your own suite?"

"Present from Britt's grandparents, they know that this trip is important and when they found out about us getting into college they wanted to help us celebrate, plus I have something special planned for this trip and when I talked to Liz about it and she insisted that we have our own room. Relax Mr. Shue we are literally two floors above you guys and we will check in for curfew like everyone else. I just want…we need this Mr. Shue, she hasn't slept in weeks and I need to give her some TLC and give us some time with just us."

"Just make sure you are both on time for practices alright?" Santana nodded and took off with the bellboy behind her. She and Brittany went up to their room first and when Santana opened the door she covered Brittany's eyes with her hand.

"San, I can't see."

"That's the point Britt. Open your eyes when I say so ok." Santana closed the door behind them, "ok now you can open." When Brittany did open her eyes she was shocked. The suite was huge; the kitchen was the size of a real one, the living room was bigger than Brittany's bedroom and she could see a King size bed in the bedroom. "There is a hot tub on the balcony and it's all ours and no one can see it and…" she was cut off when Brittany kissed her before pinning her against the door frame. "You did all this for me?"

"Liz helped: early graduation present."

"Why did you go to all this trouble?"

"Because I love you and you deserve the best, this is the best suite they have." She kissed the base of Brittany's neck and didn't show signs of stopping. "It looks like the honeymoon suite." Santana stopped and looked up at Brittany, "that's because it is. It's just, you haven't been sleeping at all recently and I wanted to pamper you this trip, let you relax and enjoy. You hate it, it's too much." Brittany put her hand over Santana's mouth, "just promise me one thing….when we get married, you bring me back here so we can break in the new mattress they are going to have to get as wives."

"New mattress?"

"Well, we might break this one." Brittany dragged Santana into the bedroom and they spent the next two hours, well, I don't have to tell you. The rest of the club got settled and rested until they had to meet up for dinner. Santana and Brittany were downstairs already when the others joined them. "Shue says you got Britt some fancy digs?" Puck never did beat around the bush. "You're just jealous that I have a huge suite for just the two of us and you have to bunk with the boy band."

"You already had sex haven't you?"

"The suite has three rooms and a balcony and I plan to have my way with Britt on or in every last one of them before we leave." Santana left Puck walked over to Quinn and Brittany as they were leaving the hotel lobby. They walked about 6 blocks to the pizza place they were going to be eating at that night. They all decided that they would get the pizzas to go and head back to the hotel to relax. Santana invited the girls up to their suite so they could do their nails for the show tomorrow and because of that the boys pouted the whole way back that they had to hang out in their own room. Santana made sure Kurt knew he was invited to go with them, as was Blaine.

"While I appreciate the offer Santana, Blaine and I have plans this evening."

""What plans we can't leave the hotel past 10pm?"

"There is a piano bar downstairs in the lobby and I have a date." He declared it with his usual dramatic tone which made Santana laugh. "Ok, don't float away just yet Tinkerbell, when you guys are done you can come up if you want, just call me and I'll let you in."

"I will let you know, you ladies have a fun filled evening, goodnight." They all said goodnight as he and Blaine got off the elevator on their floor along with the other Glee kids. Once the doors closed Santana slid the key card into the reader and the elevator moved two floors up. When Santana opened the door to their room the other girls were speechless: they walked around saying how pretty everything was, being sure to stay away from the bedroom because, well this was Brittany and Santana we're talking about. They all got settled in the living room and got ready to do their nails. They bought a movie on the hotel TV and spent the next two hours chatting and trying to get their nails to look the same. When their curfew rolled around Santana called Mr. Shue to say where they were and everyone yelled hello to prove they were all there.

After she hung up Quinn met Santana in the kitchen and whispered in her ear. "So where is it?"

"I have no idea what you are talking about."

"Bull. You know what I am talking about, where is the ring?" Santana looked up to make sure Brittany was otherwise occupied before turning back to Quinn, "in the safe."

"I knew it, I knew you were going to do it while we were here. How are you going to do it?"

"Tomorrow after we win, and we will win, I'm taking somewhere special and doing it there."

"You have to give me more details than that."

"No I do not, now shut up about it or she'll figure it out." The rest of the night was pretty tame and eventually the other girls went back downstairs to their room to get some sleep. Brittany was half asleep by the time Santana finally got her into bed. "Sanny?"

"Yeah baby?"

"We're gonna win tomorrow." Brittany said it in a soft, sleepy tone and then she fell asleep. Santana covered them with a blanket and snuggled into Brittany, "yeah baby we are baby." The scream of the alarm clock woke Santana up with a startle. She shut it off and reached down to wake up Brittany and that's when it hit her. Brittany was still asleep, as in she didn't have any nightmares last night and she actually slept the whole night. Santana showered and when she returned Brittany was standing on the balcony watching the morning traffic on the street below them.

"Morning baby."

"Morning, I'm gonna shower real fast then we can go grab breakfast ok?" Brittany gave Santana a kiss before going off to the bathroom. Santana went to the safe as she heard the water running. She opened the box the held the engagement ring and kept playing with it in her hand: she was nervous, not that she would admit it, she wanted this to be perfect. She put the ring back and when Brittany was ready the two of them headed downstairs to meet the other kids for breakfast.

When it came time to practice they all headed to the theater where Will checked them in. "Ok guys, each group has an hour on stage so we have to make this count." The hour did fly by, but they managed to go through the songs several times before their time was called. They had about three hours until the program was set to begin so they headed back to the hotel changed and did hair and makeup before heading downstairs. When they got there Santana went to the front desk and when she returned she told everyone that their ride to the theater was waiting for them outside. When they stepped outside there was a huge Hummer Limo waiting in front of the hotel entrance. The driver was standing next to the back door with a sign that said Lopez across it in erasable pen. Everyone looked at Santana who shrugged her shoulders, "Brittany's grandma has connections, good ones and she said that win or lose, we should feel like winners from beginning to end so she bought us a day of limo service."

"You don't have to tell me twice, let's saddle up folks we have a competition to win." Puck climbed into the Limo first followed by the rest of the group. When they finally got to the theater the limo helped them make quite the entrance and give them a little confidence boost. They looked at the line up of the program and they were last, which Rachel assured them was good because their performance would be fresh in the minds of the judges. They watched all the other groups and the only school that made them nervous was Vocal Adrenaline. When there was two performances left the Glee kids went backstage to finish setting up and getting into place for their set. Before they got into place, Santana, Quinn and Brittany huddled together.

Santana put her hand in the middle of the circle they had created, "start together."

Brittany placed her hand on top of Santana's, "end together." Quinn joined in, "the unholy trinity will forever." Santana and Brittany went to get into their spots for the opening number while Rachel and Quinn ran to go join the others. They were opening with a duet with Santana and Brittany and the other would be coming up through the wings from the back of the theater. The curtains opened and the music began.

(Brittany)

Clock strikes upon the hour  
And the sun begins to fade  
Still enough time to figure out  
How to chase my blues away  
Ive done alright up till now  
Its the light of day that shows me how  
And when the night falls the lonely heart calls

_(Both)_  
Oh I wanna dance with somebody  
I wanna feel the heat with somebody  
Yeah I wanna dance with somebody  
With somebody who loves me  
Oh I wanna dance with somebody  
I wanna feel the heat with somebody  
Yeah I wanna dance with somebody  
With somebody who loves me 

(Santana)  
Ive been in love and lost my senses  
Spinning through the town  
Sooner or later the fever ends  
And I wind up feeling down  
I need a woman who'll take a chance  
On a love that burns hot enough to last  
So when the night falls  
My lonely heart calls

_(Both)_  
Oh I wanna dance with somebody  
I wanna feel the heat with somebody  
Yeah I wanna dance with somebody  
With somebody who loves me  
Oh I wanna dance with somebody  
I wanna feel the heat  
Yeah I wanna dance with somebody  
With somebody who loves me

**The rest of the group made their way onto the stage and partnered up for the dancing. They weren't doing the moves that Santana and Brittany were doing, but they we backup dancers after all.**

Somebody who somebody who  
Somebody who loves me  
Somebody who somebody who  
To hold me in her arms oh

**Santana pulled Britt closer to her as they continued to dance****.**

I need a woman who'll take a chance  
On a love that burns hot enough to last  
So when the night falls  
My lonely heart calls.

_[Both]_  
Oh I wanna dance with somebody  
I wanna feel the heat with somebody  
Yeah I wanna dance with somebody  
With somebody who loves me  
Oh I wanna dance with somebody  
I wanna feel the heat with somebody  
Yeah I wanna dance with somebody  
With somebody who loves me 

(Santana)  
Ohhh, ohhh  
Come on baby, haha  
Yea  
Now get with this 

(Both)  
Don't you wanna dance  
With me baby?  
Don't you wanna dance  
With me girl?  
Don't you wanna dance  
With me baby?

With somebody who loves me.

Don't you wanna dance say you wanna dance  
Don't you wanna dance?  
Don't you wanna dance say you wanna dance  
Don't you wanna dance?  
Don't you wanna dance say you wanna dance?  
Uh huh. with somebody who loves me

The whole place went nuts and rightfully so the dancing was amazing, on the same level as Valerie had been the year before. They fell into place with the rest of the group, but not before Santana kissed Brittany, they did deserve it after that performance. The music for the group number started in and puck took a step forward, guitar now strapped to his back.

(Puck and Sam)

In the day we sweat it out on the streets of a runaway American dream  
At night we ride through the mansions of glory in suicide machines  
Sprung from cages out on highway 9,  
Chrome wheeled, fuel injected,and steppin' out over the line

(Finn)  
h-Oh, Baby this town rips the bones from your back  
It's a death trap, it's a suicide rap  
We gotta get out while we're young  
`Cause tramps like us, baby we were born to run 

(artie)  
yes, girl we were 

(Puck)  
Wendy let me in I wanna be your friend  
I want to guard your dreams and visions  
Just wrap your legs 'round these velvet rims  
and strap your hands 'cross my engines 

(Santana and Artie)

Together we could break this trap  
We'll run till we drop, baby we'll never go back  
h-Oh, Will you walk with me out on the wire  
`Cause baby I'm just a scared and lonely rider  
But I gotta know how it feels  
I want to know if love is wild  
Babe I want to know if love is real

Oh, can you show me 

(Tina and Mike)  
Beyond the Palace hemi-powered drones scream down the boulevard  
Girls comb their hair in rearview mirrors  
And the boys try to look so hard

(Quinn and Rachel)  
The amusement park rises bold and stark  
Kids are huddled on the beach in a mist  
I wanna die with you Wendy on the street tonight  
In an everlasting kiss 

**Puck was wailing on the guitar and the whole audience was on their feet.**

(Puck)  
1-2-3-4!

(Puck and Mercedes)  
The highway's jammed with broken heroes on a last chance power drive  
Everybody's out on the run tonight  
but there's no place left to hide

(Santana, Quinn and Brittany)  
Together Wendy we can live with the sadness  
I'll love you with all the madness in my soul  
h-Oh, Someday girl I don't know when  
we're gonna get to that place  
Where we really wanna go  
and we'll walk in the sun  
But till then tramps like us  
baby we were born to run 

(Santana)  
Oh honey, tramps like us  
baby we were born to run 

(Puck)  
Come on with me, tramps like us  
baby we were born to run 

(All)  
Ru-uh-uh-un  
Mm-mm-mm-mm  
Uh-uh-uh-oh-oh-oh-oh  
Ru-uh-uh-uh-un  
Mm-mm-mm-mm  
Whoa-oh-oh-oh  
Whoa-oh-oh-oh-oh-oh-oh  
Ru-uh-uh-un

The crowd cheered and whistled and the applause was deafening, but it was everything they had ever dreamed of. They all were gathered on the stage for the presentation of the winners and when it was time to announce second place, Santana was fairly certain everyone stopped breathing for a few seconds.

"Second place goes to Carmel High's Vocal Adrenaline, which means the Winners of your 2012 National Show Choir Championship is William McKinley High's New Directions." Now anyone there that day could tell you that the second the judge said the letter C in Carmel High the entire New Directions team started celebrating. They are crying and laughing and holding each other in the tightest hugs because they had finally done it. After years of being told that they were losers and freaks, they were going home champions. Rachel turned to look at her friends and she wasn't surprised to see Santana and Brittany kissing, but instead of being passionate, it was desperate and beautiful and when she pointed it out to Quinn the blonde had the presence of mind to take a picture of it. They had survived the worst imaginable hell and this win made it all fade away because they kept fighting when everyone else counted them out. After the pictures were taken and the interviews were finished the limo meet them outside and they were headed back to the hotel. Santana and Puck stood up in the moon roof and yelled the whole way back to the hotel and no one saw any reason to stop them, mostly because they were yelling just as loud out the windows. When they returned to the hotel everyone agreed that they would change and then head out to celebrate with a nice meal. Santana jumped into the conversation adding, "sorry guys, Britt and I have reservations already, it took me six months to get a reservation at this place and I think I stole Kristin Chenoweth's time slot to make it happen, but we will celebrate when we get back I promise."

Quinn watched the two head back to their room and Rachel interrupted her thoughts. "Where do you think they are going?"

"No idea, but I bet Brittany is going to be very happy." Rachel eyed her girlfriend carefully, "Quinn, what do you know that I don't?"

"Nothing?"

"You are a crap liar, tell me." Quinn looked at the other girls who were busy on the phone talking to their parents about winning so she grabbed Rachel and took her into the hallway. "Santana has something very important to give to Brittany."

"What like a present?"

"Yes."

"But their birthdays were months ago."

"It's not that kind of gift Rach, it's more long term." Rachel wasn't catching on and Quinn thought it was funny. "Quinn I don't understand what you are saying because unless Santana is walking around with an engagement ring I have no clue what else you could be talking about." Rachel started to laugh at her own joke when she looked at Quinn's very serious face. "Oh. My. Sweet. God. That's it isn't it, she's going to propose, here, in New York, to Brittany." Rachel was crying like it was her own proposal and Quinn had to get her to calm down.

"Rach, baby, calm down and breathe, I don't know if she is doing it tonight but I hope she is, just keep a lid on it for now."

"Of course." Rachel and Quinn went to get ready for dinner and eventually found themselves downstairs waiting for the boys to finish getting ready. When the elevator doors opened Santana and Brittany stepped out, Santana in her dress uniform and Brittany in a black halter-top dress. Santana went to the front desk and asked them to call the limo driver and then she quickly returned to Brittany. When the rest of the club arrived downstairs the limo had pulled up in the front of the hotel and Santana opened the door for Brittany. "Have fun guys, see you later." Santana waved before handing the driver the address and then getting into the car. The drive wasn't bad and they arrived for their reservation on time. Even though the dinner was fancy and more expensive then what they usually did, the girls treated it like any other date and enjoyed themselves while at the same time celebrating their huge win. After they had paid, Santana said she had one more thing she wanted to show Brittany before the headed back to the hotel. The driver pulled up in front of the Stonewall Inn and Santana helped Brittany out of the limo.

"You remember me bringing you here last year baby?"

"You said that because of what people did here a long time ago, you and I could be together and hold hands in public." Santana laughed and kissed Brittany's hand, "that's right baby and I wanted to bring you back because I wanted to give you a really special night and I wanted this place to be a part of it. And I have one more thing to show you." Santana waved at the limo driver who rolled down all the windows allowing music to waft through the car and onto the street. People were looking, but Santana didn't care as she launched into song standing on the sidewalk in front of the old bar.

She rolls the window down  
And she  
Talks over the sound  
Of the cars that pass us by  
And I don't know why  
But she's changed my mind 

**Santana was dancing with Brittany as if it was a slow song and it was adorable and she moved into the chorus.**

Would you look at her  
She looks at me  
She's got me thinking about her constantly  
But she don't know how I feel  
And as she carries on without a doubt  
I wonder if she's figured out  
I'm crazy for this girl  
Yea I'm crazy for this girl 

**Santana twirled Brittany around at some parts and at others they were perfectly still and the spontaneous show had drawn people's attention so they now had an audience surrounding them. A soldier in uniform dancing around in the streets was not something you see every day. Santana nuzzled Brittany's neck and brushed a few of the stray tears away as she sang on.**

She was the one to hold me  
The night

The sky fell down  
And what was I thinking when  
The world didn't end  
Why didn't I know what I know now

Would you look at her  
She looks at me  
She's got me thinking about her constantly  
But she don't know how I feel  
And as she carries on without a doubt  
I wonder if she's figured out  
I'm crazy for this girl  
Yea im crazy for this girl 

**Santana stopped dancing for a minute and looked Brittany straight in the eye.**

Right now  
Face to face  
All my fears  
Pushed aside  
And right now  
I'm ready to spend the rest of my life  
With you

**As she sang it, Santana reached into her jacket pocket and pulled out the blank velvet box that she had been holding onto for months. She knelt down on one knee and opened the box to a now crying Brittany. Santana stayed on one knee for the rest of the song which thankfully wasn't that long.  
**  
Would you look at her  
She looks at me  
She's got me thinking about her constantly  
But she don't know how I feel  
And as she carries on without a doubt  
I wonder if she's figured out  
I'm crazy for this girl

Would you look at her  
She looks at me  
She's got me thinking about her constantly  
But she don't know how I feel  
And as she carries on without a doubt  
I wonder if she's figured out  
I'm crazy for this girl

When the song was over Santana cleared her throat and started talking, "No one has ever loved me like you do and no one ever will. I want you to be the last person I think about each night and the first thing each morning. I want every dream I have ever had to come true with you by my side: I want kids, and a house, and a mortgage and I want to grow old and gray with you by my side. I know we are young and people may not get it, but I can't spend one more second of my life without knowing that this ring is on your finger and you are mine forever. You are the most beautiful blessing I ever got in my whole life and I want to give you the world, but the only way I can do that is if you answer one very important question for me: Will you, Brittany S. Pierce, please do me the great honor of being my wife?" Santana was barely able to get the words out she was crying so hard and Brittany could barely see thought her own tears. She started nodding up and down furiously. "Britt, baby is that a yes, are you saying yes?"

Brittany swallowed hard and in the most emotional, cracked voice, she answered, "yes, yes, a thousand times yes, I will marry you." Santana stood up and after fumbling with getting the ring on Brittany's finger she finally did and the two quickly embraced. The crowd that had gathered around them was cheering wildly and the cheers grew when they finally kissed. Santana didn't want to leave that spot, ever, she just wanted to hold Brittany and never let go, but she knew they had to head home eventually. They eventually made their way back to the limo and drove back to the hotel. Brittany stay cuddled in Santana's side and they both had the most ridiculous grins on their faces.

"I love you, so so much."

"I love you too Britt Britt."

"Can we tell people?"

"You bet we can tell people, in fact. Hank, can you take us the place where the rest of the club is getting dinner please?" The driver nodded and took a right turn down the next street. "We can tell the gang tonight and when we get back to the hotel we can call my mom and Liz ok?"

"We're getting married. I just can't believe it, this is real and it isn't a dream in my head anymore, it's really really happening." Santana kissed her and smiled, "I will spend the rest of our lives making your dreams real." The car stopped in front of a restaurant about 6 blocks from the hotel and by the time Santana was out of the car Brittany was running inside and making a beeline for the glee kids table.

Quinn saw Brittany first and stood up, "Britt, what's wrong you look flushed and out of breath, everything ok?" Without saying a word Brittany held up her hand to Quinn and the ring was impossible to ignore. Quinn immediately started crying and threw her arms around Brittany as the two cried and laughed. No one else at the table knew what was going on so Finn bit the bullet, "what happened, share with the class Brittany?" By now Santana had walked up behind Brittany and wrapping a protective arm around Brittany's waist she turned to her friends and with a smile none of them had ever seen on her face before, she announced proudly, "Brittany has graciously agreed to put up with me for the rest of our lives." Her friend's blank faces told her to explain, "I asked Brittany to marry me and she said yes; we're engaged." As if on cue Brittany held her hand out and the ring caught the light just perfectly. The table exploded in screaming and crying and congratulations. Puck finally whistled to get everyone attention, "I propose a toast to my best lesbro and her blushing bride to be, no two people on this earth deserve happiness as much as you guys do, may the rest of your lives be better than any fairytale and last twice as long. To Santana and Brittany." Everyone held their glasses above their heads, "Santana and Brittany." The happy couple spent the next hour with their friends celebrating all the fantastic things that this day had brought them, but in the back of their minds they were planning out how they would tell their family.

**So it was a lot to handle, but they are getting married and I needed to get this chapter out. My sister is getting married in one week and so everything in my life is wedding focused so I moved the proposal to this chapter. The next chapter will be them tell Angela and Liz and then heading home so review and let me know what you guys thought.**


	42. The Night Before Everything Changes

**For the sake of time I'm going to mention how the girls tell their families about the engagement in this chapter, but it's going to focus on their graduation. I may do a flash back to their senior prom, but right now I want to keep the story moving a little fast than that. What I think I'm going to do is have this chapter and then one more to tie it up, then start a new story that has one chapter for every year they are in college, followed by them in adult life. If there is something that you want to see please let me know and I will consider it. A few people have reviewed mentioning that they don't really like the direction I took Santana by having her go to West Point because she would never do anything that meant leaving Brittany. While I agree that they have a point, this is how the story is going to stay and if that means I lose readers I'm truly sorry.**

Santana was outside trying to finish staining the picnic bench with wood finish while Brittany was helping Angela inside get ready for the party. It had been about three weeks since the team had returned from NY and now graduation was literally two days away. Angela offered the house to host a Glee graduation party and the girls were helping Santana's folks set up for the party that was being held the next day. They had literally just finished their last actual school day of high school and now that finals were over everyone was finally able to relax and enjoy the fact that the holy grail of high school was almost theirs. When the bench was done Santana cleaned up outside and headed inside to clean up and help her mom and Brittany get the food prepped.

"Momma, I'm gonna shower then I'll help you and Britt's in the kitchen." Angela looked up form what she was doing, "actually Santana, I need you to string the lights up outside."

"I thought daddy was gonna do that?"

"He is, but you're going to help him, I don't want him to hurt himself."

"But you don't mind if I hurt myself? Thank mom." Santana winked at her mom, but instead f Angela scolding her Brittany did. "Stop being sassy and just go help you dad." Brittany put the copped fruit into a glass container as she chastised Santana. Santana rolled her eyes and went back outside, "anything else wife?" Brittany pretended to think and eventually smiled back at Santana, "that's it for now, thanks baby."

"You are in so much trouble later." Santana went back outside and spent another hour trying to untangle the lights and hang them up with her father's help. Every now and then Angela would hear her daughter or her husband swearing at the lights in either English or Spanish and she would laugh.

"Anything else we need to prep food wise Angela?" Brittany had put the last container of fruit salad in the fridge in the garage and was now cleaning up the scraps from that. Angela looked at her list and then looked back up at Brittany, "only things left are getting the marinade ready and getting the plastic dishware set up to make sure we have enough. If you grab the bottles from the fridge we can make the marinade and get the ribs in it so they soak overnight." Brittany returned from the fridge with 8 bottles of the sauce they were going to be using and after cleaning the meat and setting up the marinade that was also added to the food waiting in the fridge. Santana finally came inside followed closely by her father and they both looked angry.

"The lights are hung momma…and they can just stay there until Christmas for all I care." Brittany went over and gave Santana a kiss on the cheek which made her smile a little bit, "if you go shower I'll bring you hot chocolate." Santana didn't have the heart to tell Brittany that it was summer time and even though it was nighttime it was still 80% humidity and hot as hell so hot chocolate may not be the best idea. "Is that your way of tell me I smell?"

Angela shouted from the kitchen, "your fiancée is nicer then I am, go clean yourself up, you smell like you've been out there all afternoon."

"I have been out there all afternoon."

"And whose party is it that we are getting ready for?" Santana had nothing to say to that. "That's what I thought, now go get clean please." Santana smiled and headed upstairs leaving Brittany in the kitchen with her mom. "Angela? Can I ask you something?"

"You know you can ask me anything." Brittany sat on the counter and let her legs dangle over the side. "What should I get Sanny for graduation? I can't think of anything she'd like." Angela dried her hand on a dish towel and walked over to Brittany patting her knee as she did. "Honey, I think you already gave her a pretty amazing graduation present." Brittany looked confused and Angela saw it etched across her face so she picked up Brittany's hand and pointed at the ring. "Honey when you said yes, you gave her the only thing she has ever wanted since she was a little girl, you gave her you." The moment was broken when Santana yelled from upstairs, "baby, where are my Cheerio sweatpants?"

Brittany laughed and yelled back, "under your comforter on the floor, you never folded them, but they are clean." Angela laughed and went back to cleaning the kitchen. "Honey there is nothing else in this world that she wants other than you."

"What if I got her a ring? She gave me one, but she doesn't have her own ring." Angela thought about it for a minute and walked back over in front of Brittany, "you mean a ring like this?" She pulled the ring off her finger and handed it to the blonde. It was small and simple and elegant. Brittany was stunned, but finally spoke up, "Angela, I can't take this from you, it's yours."

"Brittany honey, let me tell you something. When you have a daughter, there are things of yours you always dream of giving them someday. Alex gave me this ring when we were just a little bit older than the two of you are now and I only took it off when I was pregnant. I always dreamed that one day I could give it to whoever Santana was going to marry." Angela placed the ring in the palm of Brittany's hand, "and now I have." Brittany wrapped her arms around Angela and hugged her before hopping off the counter. "Thank you, I'm going to go grab a shower before bed." Brittany took off up the stairs and before she went into the bathroom she checked on Santana who by now had found the pants she had been searching for earlier.

"I'm going to shower then I'm going to bed." Santana got up from her desk and gave Brittany a quick kiss, "don't you think it's a little strange that we're engaged and we still have to sleep in separate rooms?"

"House rules baby."

"But Britt even when we leave for New York, we'll be in different places, shouldn't we get three months of being able to sleep in the same bed?"

"Take it up with your mom, I'm taking a shower." Brittany gave Santana a kiss and left the room. After picking out what she would be wearing tomorrow Santana collapsed on her bed and fell asleep. The next morning she was woken up not by her alarm clock, but by her mother knocking on her door.

"Santana, come on I need you to help me set up before you get ready." Santana rolled over to see that it was 8:30 and she didn't plan on being awake for at least another hour, but she rolled out of bed and headed downstairs. Once in the kitchen she was a little surprised by how busy everything was already. Her brother and dad were outside starting the coals for the BBQ while Britt was with Angela in the kitchen laying out the plates and the condiments.

"Santana can you grab the two garbage cans from the shed and put them outside?" Santana looked at her mother like she had just asked for the moon, which to someone who just woke up asking them to do anything is pretty much the same thing. "Don't fight me today Santana, my baby girl is graduating, leaving for college, joining the military and getting married and all I am asking from you is to go move the damn garbage cans so our yard doesn't look like shit at the end of the day." Angela went into the garage and when the door slammed behind her Santana was wide awake and felt terrible, she never realized how hard all this was on her mother and now that she did, she was unsure of how to make it any less emotional. She gave Brittany a quick kiss before following her mother out into the garage where Angela was sitting on hood of the family car.

"Mami."

"I'm sorry Santana, I didn't mean to snap at you like that." Angela dried her eyes with a balled up tissue. Santana sat down next to her mom and leaned against her shoulder. "No, I'm sorry. I never stopped to think about how all this affected you and daddy. Most parents deal with graduation and college, not military service and a gay wedding on top of that. You know you aren't losing me right, you'll always be my mother, I just have things I have to do now; I have someone who depends on me. But you love Brittany like she's your daughter anyway and you know I'll be back whenever I can and when I'm deployed you can Skype me and…look I'm going to be a lot of things in my life; I'm going to be a student, a soldier, a wife, a mother, an officer, a lawyer, but no matter what title I hold the first title I ever held will always be important to me, I was your daughter before I became anything else and you will always be my mother and nothing will ever change that." A calm silence settled over the two of them and eventually  
Angela turned to Santana and kissed her head. "I'm proud of you Santana and for what it's worth you and Brittany will make wonderful parents someday." Angela patted Santana's knee and got off the car, she offered her hand to help Santana down and both women went back inside.

Brittany didn't ask any questions because she knew Santana would tell her later. Santana found the garbage cans and set them up outside before heading back to the kitchen. She and Brittany put all the food from the outside fridge in the one inside the kitchen so that it was easily accessible before heading upstairs to change. Brittany wore white Capri pants with a navy blue top while Santana wore red sun dress with a purple waist sash. Brittany hid the ring that Angela had given her in the downstairs office where no one would be so she knew it was the safest hiding spot. She was shaken from her task when the doorbell rang. Santana answered the door and not surprisingly it was Rachel and Quinn.

"Rach insisted that we arrive early to assist in setting up." Rachel elbowed Quinn which caused her wince, "I mean we wanted to come help."

"Quinn is just as whipped as you baby." Brittany pointed out and Santana frowned along with Quinn as they both said, "I'm not whipped." Rachel and Brittany laughed as they walked into the kitchen. All the girls helped lay out the food on the kitchen counter and added ice to all the drink tubs in the backyard. Rachel took it upon herself to make a playlist for the occasion, but only after Santana made her promise to keep the show tunes to a minimum or they would all be singing instead of partying. As Angela brought the meat outside to be cooked the doorbell rang again and for the next half hour it didn't stop ringing. It was either glee club members, or their families or Mr. Shue or the other adults involved in the club. When Santana was fairly certain everyone had arrived she made her way outside to join the party. The kids had broken off into small groups and were all talking excitedly about graduation and college and their last summer before adulthood. All the graduating seniors were wearing their caps just because they wanted to and it made for great pictures. About an hour into the party Angela told Santana that food would be ready in about 20 minutes and to get everyone gathered. Santana stood up on the flower planter and whistled which caused everyone in the yard to turn and face her.

"Hey everyone, food is going to be ready in just a few minutes so don't riot yet I promise the wait is worth it. I will take this moment however to say a few words about glee club and all the people gathered here today. I'll be the first person to admit that I joined glee club under false pretenses and I was out to ruin it which needless to say I failed at miserably and I have never been happier to admit that I failed. Somewhere in all that lying I found something in this group that I loved, something that made me want to stay and fight hard for every title. Could it have been because of my bangin' voice? Perhaps, but honestly I always loved singing, but it was you guys, each and everyone one of you added something to glee club. I would have never thought that a rag tag group like ours would fit together and become family. You all taught me something, or changed my life in some way and that day we become forever bound together because of a senseless tragedy that we all lived through. We sat in sterile hospital rooms and prayed for a miracle that we didn't know would come, but it did." Santana had to paused and collect herself or she would have started to cry, like most of the guests had by this point.

"You are some of the best people I have ever had the privileged of knowing and there is not one single doubt in my mind that all of you, seniors or otherwise, are going to do amazing things with your lives and I am proud to be a part of those lives. So tonight, the night before we graduate high school and start the next chapter I would like to thank you all for making dreams I didn't know I had come true. Glee club gave me a place to share my talent, but I can say that it simultaneously made my family grow. It gave me more brothers and sisters then I thought I would ever want, it gave me a second father figure that drove me nuts and it made me realize that the person who held my heart had been right in front of me since we the day I was born. I love you all, every last one of you and no matter where I am, even if it is in the middle of the damn desert, I will carry the memories we made with me and there will never be a day my heart doesn't find every last one of you. So…a toast to glee club, no matter where we go, who we love or what we become we will all drop what we are doing to sing along to Journey." Everyone laughed through their tears and raised their drinks before taking a sip.

Santana raised her glass again, "a toast to our families, they raised us, loved us and gave us everything we needed to get us to this place and they rarely get thanked. So to our mothers, father, siblings, grandparents, extended families and the families we found along the way, may they understand how much we love them and appreciate their love and hard work." Again everyone cheered and raised their glasses. "And last but not least; to my beautiful bride to be." Santana looked at Brittany and those tears she was trying to hold back came running down her face.

"We grew up together and I tried for so long to tell myself I only loved you as my best friend, but I stand here today so thankful that I realized that what we have is so much more than friendship. You are the greatest blessing I ever received in my life and I have no clue what I did to deserve it. Glee club opened my eyes and made me realize that you are my first and my forever and I can't wait until that fake wedding we had when we were little becomes the best day of our lives because it won't be make believe anymore. Thank you so so much for loving me even when I pushed you away and I can't wait for the day I get to call you my wife. To Brittany, who showed me that true love exists outside of fairytales." Brittany brushed the tears from her eyes, as did everyone in attendance and Santana cleared her throat, "now everyone, food is ready so grab a plate and help yourselves."

Brittany stole a quick kiss as they waited in line to get food from the grill and eventually the two sat down next to Rachel, Quinn, Puck and Mr. Shue. Rachel was eating something Angela had made that was ok for vegans and everyone else was eating ribs or burgers. Small talk was made as everyone chatted about their summer plans and eventually Mr. Shue asked about the wedding. Santana nodded to Brittany that it was ok to share their preliminary plans.

"College first, then the wedding. We love each other, but we want to enjoy our college time and then be able to come together and create our life together as a married couple."

Santana jumped in, "besides, once I graduate I'll be an officer and Brittany, as my wife, would get medical benefits and we can live together on base in our own home."

"Sounds like you guys have it planned out."

"Give us a little credit Mr. Shue, only an idiot tries to plan a wedding while trying to get through high school graduation." Everyone laughed and Puck jumped in, "so how did your families handle the news of you guys getting engaged?"

"Well when we got back to the hotel that night we called my mom and she was still excited that we had won so when we called she just thought we were over excited. So I took the phone from Britt and told mom that I gave Brittany a special gift. Mom got kind of quiet and I could tell she was scared to ask what I had done. I didn't know what to say so I took a picture of the ring and messaged it to her. She was quiet for a while longer, but eventually she spoke up again and asked me what the ring meant. I swallowed audibly and told her that it meant that I asked Brittany to marry me. She asked me what she said and when I told her she said yes you could hear my dad shouting in the background something in Spanish. I thought I was done for so I ask my mom to repeat what dad just said. She sighed and repeated…" At that moment Angela walked up behind her and finished Santana's story, "he said 'Angie, you owe me 50 bucks, I told you they would, what does that song say again, put a ring on it before they graduated.' Then my husband the genius ran around the house singing wedding songs, it was like he was possessed. If they had waited one more month I would have won the bet, other than that I was completely happy for them."

"No, you were happy after I promised you that the wedding wasn't gonna be for another four years." Santana smirked but Brittany kicked her under the table and she stopped. Their teacher laughed and then turned to Brittany, "how about you family Brittany, how'd they take the news?" Brittany swallowed the food I her mouth and smiled, "they were super excited. We called my grandma after Sanny hung up with Angela and she cried and told us she'd pay for everything, then she gave the phone to my grandpa who made me give the phone to Santana and then never told me what he told her. My aunts and uncles all called me within 20 minutes because my grandma called them. They were so happy and everyone is just counting down the days for the next four years."

"When are you guys moving to New York? Rachel and I aren't leaving until mid-August?" Quinn and Rachel already had an apartment lined up with some friends of Rachel's dads who were moving to the West Coast and needed out of their lease early.

"Santana needs to be there by early August so we'll leave the last week in July. She'll get settled at the academy and I'm still trying to find a place." Quinn offered her a smile and pushed her food around with her fork. "You know Britt, the place we have is a two bedroom and Rachel and I would be happy to let you have it. It's close to public transit and it's actually really close to the Julliard campus." Santana almost started crying; she was so worried about Brittany living by herself in a new city and this made her calm down. She'd be living with friends that she knew would watch out for her when Santana wasn't there. Santana didn't hear Brittany say yes, but when she snapped back into reality Quinn was drawing the layout of the apartment on a napkin so she assumed that Brittany had said yes.

They finished eating and eventually the kids couldn't help themselves and jumped into the pool. They only came out when Angela put the cake on the table outside. They all took pictures of them all around the cake before cutting into it. While their friends all got high on sugar Brittany took Santana inside and led her into the office. "I know you said no graduation gifts, but I wanted us to match." Brittany took Santana's hand and quickly slipped the ring onto her finger before Santana could ask what was happening. "Your mom gave it to me."

"Brittany you didn't need to give me ring, but I love it, almost as much as I love you." She kissed Brittany and smiled as she looked at their interlaced hands. You could see the light hit both rings and Santana wasn't sure how life could get any better for them, but she knew that tomorrow everything was going to change forever when their names were called and they walked across the stage as high school graduates.

**Sorry for the long wait guys. First off that dig that they are smart enough not to get married right out of high school: I mean no disrespect, that was a dig at what Ryan Murphy did with Finn and Rachel last season, if you did it in your life then good for you. Second, I'm leaving on Saturday for a cruise which means I needed this chapter up before I left because I will not have my computer with me and internet accesses is limited on the ship. The next chapter will be graduation and then I think I'm going to end this story and start the next one where this one leaves off. Let me know what you all think and I hope this chapter lived up to the others.**


	43. Everything Changes Part 1

Santana woke up the morning of graduation about an hour before her alarm was set to go off. She hadn't slept that well that night anyway; she kept waking up every few hours and tossing and turning. Today was a big day and her brain just would not calm down long enough for her to get more than about 4 hours of sleep. Santana showered and when she stepped out of the shower she braced herself against the counter, focusing on her reflection in the mirror.

"I'm graduating." She almost had to say it out loud in order for it really sink in. She wrapped her robe around her tighter and walked back into her bedroom. Her graduation gown hung on the back of the door with the cap resting on the top of the hanger and Santana couldn't help but smile at the bright red gown. Today they all got to walk up on that stage and receive their diplomas and after the year they all had, that moment was going to be bittersweet. They had all worked hard and the future looked bright for all of them, but they knew that they were the lucky ones because that shooting could have easily been the end for them too. Santana tried to shake it from her mind, they would honor their fallen classmates, but they had to enjoy their moment in the sun because like all good things it would be brief and would quickly pass them by.

Santana went downstairs and made some food for herself and Brittany who was still fast asleep. She ran back upstairs and did her hair the way she wanted and that way the bathroom would be free for Brittany to get ready when she woke up. Santana sat on the patio furniture and sipped her coffee until she heard the sliding glass door open. She didn't have to look up to know who was standing there she just held her coffee cup above her head.

"Want some babe?" Brittany took the mug out of her hand and drank the rest of Santana's coffee before sitting on the foot of the patio chair Santana was sitting on.

"You are up very early."

"I know, but so are you. Guess we both have some nervous energy about today." Santana leaned back and rested her head against the chair's head rest and when she shut her eyes Brittany could see the wheels in her mind turning and she wanted to know why.

"What's going on in that head of yours?" Santana sighed heavily, "it's just that all these wonderful things happen after today and as excited and happy as I am it's like…I don't know."

"You're scared." Santana tried to refute that, but she didn't really get the chance to because Brittany kept going. "And you know what, it's totally ok to be afraid of what's coming down the road Santana. A lot of stuff happened to us this year and we just got back on our feet and all of a sudden life wants to knock us off balance again by changing the rules of the game. Everyone our age has the same feeling in the pit of their stomachs this month Santana and it's ok as long as you don't ever let it hold you back. True courage is not the absence of fear, but the knowledge that something is more important that fear. You can be afraid of the future, but never let it keep you from moving forward."

"Aren't you afraid?" Brittany stood up and pulled Santana up after her so that they were eye level. "Santana I was shot and I was fairly certain that I was gonna die on the choir room floor, but not before I would watch all of you die along with me. Once you have looked death in the eye, nothing ever seems as scary. Uncertainty is unnerving, but you and I can find our way into the future together." Santana let Brittany kiss her softly before she walked back inside. Brittany took her turn in the bathroom while Santana finished getting dressed. She tucked her dress shirt into her uniform pants and took the hanger that held her dress jacket and the hanger that held her gown downstairs so they would stay as crisp as possible. She sat down on the couch and looked at pictures of she and Brittany on her phone and that was how Brittany found her when she finally came downstairs with her own gown in hand. She hung her gown up next to Santana's and sat down next to her on the arm of the couch. Santana held up the picture she was currently looking at and Brittany laughed.

"It's not my fault that you forgot to take your phone out of your pocket before Puck pushed you in the pool. He did tell you that he would do it if you didn't get in." In the Picture Brittany was standing in the pool next to Santana who aside from being fully clothed was wearing a very pissed off expression on her face.

"I got him back later so it worked out." Santana tucked her phone back in her pocket and leaned against the back of the couch. "You ready for today?"

"The first step we take on that stage is our first step out of this town. I'm totally ready for that."

"You know what I'm ready for?" Santana kept her eyes closed as she waited for Brittany's answer.

"What's that?"

"I'm ready to wake up early one morning, fumble with the buttons on my dress uniform, have Puck try to make me laugh to calm down, walk out in front of all our friends and family, listen to beautiful music until I see you appear in a stunning all white dress, crying through my vows, saying I do and then the moment when I know that you're my wife and no one can ever take that happiness from us. I'm ready for that day?" Brittany leaned down and kissed Santana and moved so that she was sitting in her lap. "I'm ready for that too, but I think we have to graduate first." Santana laughed and followed as Brittany stood up from her seat. She caught Brittany's wrist before she went into the kitchen and spun her around. "I want one more moment with just you and me before today kick starts our futures."

"I love you." Santana kissed Brittany and hugged her close to her and they stayed there for a while until they absolutely had to leave in order to meet up with the other Glee kids. Santana hung up their gowns and her dress jacket in the backseat of the car and hopped in the driver's seat. In the early light of the morning Santana backed out of her driveway and she and Brittany were on their way to school. When they got there the parking lot was still very quiet. The Glee kids had agreed, once again, to meet up early to give everyone a chance to say goodbye or sit in silence or whatever they needed to do to give themselves a sense of closure. Santana opened her door and quick went to the other side to help Brittany out. Santana handed her the hanger with her longer red gown on it while she held her own grad gown and uniform jacket in her hand. They walked down the main hallway holding hands and taking their time to savor the final moments as students. They passed the memorial and paused for a moment of quiet reflection before moving past it. They eventually made it to the choir room where they realized that they were the first kids to arrive. They hung up their gowns and sat down in the empty room.

"Well I can't stand the silence so let's fix that shall we." Santana took out her phone, set it in the speaker dock and then hit a few buttons that made music start to fill the room. She held her hand out to Brittany who smiled ear to ear and took it. They started to dance in the center of the room and Santana started to sing.

**I don't want to make a scene  
I don't want to let you down  
Try to do my own thing  
And I'm starting to figure it out  
That it's alright  
Keep it together wherever we go  
And it's alright, oh well, whatever  
Everybody needs to know**

You might be crazy  
Have I told you lately that I love you?  
You're the only reason that I'm not afraid to fly  
And it's crazy that someone could change me  
Now no matter what it is I have to do, I'm not afraid to try  
And you need to know that you're the reason why  


Santana nuzzled the side of Brittany's neck and kissed it lightly which made Brittany smile and suppress a giggle.

**I don't even care when they say  
You're a little bit off  
Look me in the eye, I say  
I could never get enough  
'Cause it's alright  
Keep it together wherever we go  
And it's alright, oh well, whatever  
Everybody needs to know**

By this point Quinn, Rachel, Kurt and Finn were all standing outside the choir room door watching this unfold and the others quickly showed up and they all entered the room silently and neither Brittany nor Santana heard them come in.They watched the couple dance and no one had the heart or the courage to make them aware that they were no longer alone.****

You might be crazy  
Have I told you lately that I love you?  
You're the only reason that I'm not afraid to fly  
And it's crazy that someone could change me  
Now no matter what it is I have to do, I'm not afraid to try  
And you need to know that you're the reason why

**If it was raining, you would yell at the sun  
Pick up the pieces when the damage is done  
You say it's just another day in the shade  
But look at what a mess we made  
**

**You might be crazy  
Have I told you lately that I love you?  
You're the only reason that I'm not afraid to fly  
And it's crazy that someone could change me  
Now no matter what it is I have to do, I'm not afraid to try  
And you need to know that you're the reason why**

**I don't want to make a scene  
I don't want to let you down  
**

Santana finished the song and Quinn hit the pause button on the dock and only when Rachel and Kurt started crying and clapping did the couple realize that their intimate moment now had an audience. Santana stood on a chair in the middle of the room which grabbed everyone's attention.

"Look everyone we have said so many sappy speeches I think I'm even growing feelings, so let's skip it for today. Truth is, we braved hell and are still standing today because we never gave up on each other. We're family, maybe not in the formal sense of the word, but family is family and that title binds us together forever. Miles between us can't change what we did here, what we built here, in this room. We went from nobodies to champions and that will live in our hearts forever. So I say we enjoy today and celebrate our accomplishments and prepare for futures that are bigger and brighter than anyone could have ever imagined." They all clapped and cheered and hugged and had their moments to say goodbye to the place that brought them together and made them family. Santana put on her jacket and everyone put on their gowns and with them all in their caps and gowns tears started all over again. Eventually Mr. Shue walked in and in a broken voice that betrayed his emotions he told them it was time to get things started. So just like that the original new directions graduating class walked down the hallway to the auditorium.

**So yes it is brief, but I am so crazy busy with moving its unreal, but I'm going to do one more chapter that has the ceremony and then I'll start a sequel to this story so review for more and let me know what you think.**


	44. Everything Changes Part 2

The entire graduating class was lined up outside in the hallway that led into the auditorium. Santana could hear from where she was standing that Figgins was still giving his welcome speech. She turned around and saw Brittany talking to Puck. Brittany happened to look up at that moment and she smiled when she realized that Santana had been staring at her. Santana smiled back and blew her a kiss before turning around so that she was facing the double doors. She could hear that the welcome stuff was over and the silence the met her ears meant that the music was being cued.

Sure enough a second later the unmistakable sound of Pomp and Circumstance started to play. The doors were opened and the students were slowly filtered through them so that the procession would begin. When Santana stepped foot into the auditorium she felt the chill of the air conditioned room as she walked and felt all eyes on her. She scanned the crowd for her parents and when she neared the stage she finally saw her mother and father sitting next to her brother and extended family. Brittany's family wanted to come, but it was too difficult to get any large number of them out to Ohio in enough time, but they called and wished her luck and demanded to see a recording of the events later.

Santana turned around when she was standing in front of her seat and she could see Brittany was about half way up the aisle. It made Santana smile when she thought to herself that the next time she would see Brittany walking down an aisle in a gown it would be their wedding day. The graduates were told to sit down and the elected teacher delivered a speech, then Quinn as Valedictorian delivered a moving speech about the future and overcoming what they had all suffered throughout that previous year. When that was over Mr. Shue stood up and approached the podium.

"Good morning graduates, staff, teachers, family and friends of the class of 2012. Every year the teachers award a handful of students for their accomplishments during their time here at McKinley. Not all of these awards are based on academic GPA, many of them in fact are character based. The teachers and staff vote and this year I am proud to announce the recipients of these awards." Will opened a folded piece of paper and continued speaking. The first three awards were people Santana was certain she had never met, let alone heard of so she started to tune out, that was until she heard a name she did recognize. "Santana Lopez." Santana slowly stood up and walked toward Mr. Shue as he kept talking.

"Santana is this year's recipient of the William McKinley High School Developmental Achievement award. This award is presented to the student who the teachers have seen the greatest change in. By that I mean, this person started at McKinley with one attitude, one way of living and is graduating here to today the same person but has changed their attitude, their look on life, to put it simply they changed for the better. Santana has been here for all four years of high school and I can say without fear of contradiction that the girl who walked in the front door all those years ago has grown into a fantastic, brave, outspoken, smart, talented, caring young woman with a sharp wit and a heart that she is shy to share with others at first meeting. When we as teachers were asked for nominations for this award there was no need for a second round of voting because this decision was unanimous. I personally, have had the honor of seeing Santana grow into a fantastic young women and the young lady who insulted my over use of vests is the same person who stands in front of you all today with an acceptance letter to West Point in one hand and the hand of her fiancé in the other. We all survived a horrible ordeal last year and Santana and the rest of the Glee kids were among those trapped inside the school. She organized the release of two members of our team, one of whom was her then girlfriend who was critically wounded. Instead of staying where it was safe Santana stormed the school armed with a service weapon and found herself eye to eye with the gunman who had me at gun point. She saved my life that day and she did so with no regard for her own safety. That willingness to save my life regardless of the danger it posed to her own speaks to her character and leaves me very emotional especially today. I invite you all to join me in congratulating Ms. Santana Lopez on this crowning achievement to her high school career." Will stepped back from the microphone and clapped along with everyone in the crowd; the Glee kids were on their feet behind Santana, not that she could see them through the tears that were clouding her vision. Will handed Santana the plaque that bore the award name and her's underneath it. He offered his hand to shake her's, but she gently pushed it away and hugged her teacher. They both cried and eventually broke apart with a smile. Santana returned to her seat and Will returned to the podium.

"Finally the last award is one that I've been looking forward to giving since we started voting on it. Earlier we awarded Man of the Year and now we are awarding the partner award, Woman of the Year." Mr. Shue went on to explain what the award was, but Santana had gotten lost in her own thoughts. She eventually came back and in enough time to her Mr. Shue finish. "The decision was another unanimous vote and today it seems only fitting to give this young woman the recognition that she deserves. It gives me great honor to present this year's Woman of the Year award to Ms. Brittany S. Pierce." Anyone there that day would tell you that the second that Will said the name Brittany, Santana was on her feet with new tears coming down and a smile that stretched ear to ear. This was of course a gamble on her part because there were about 13 girls named Brittany in their graduating class, but Santana knew that none of them had done half of what her Brittany had done to deserve the award. She looked back to see Brittany hesitantly rise from her seat and walk forward. Santana locked eyes with her and as she walked across the stage Brittany's eyes filled with the same tears. By the time Brittany had made it to Will the room was going crazy and Brittany barely knew what to do with herself. Will placed the medal around her neck and handed her the plaque and as he did he motioned for her to look behind her. What she saw took her breath away: the entire class was on their feet applauding her. She turned back around and the audience, full of family and friends were all standing as well.

Santana could see from where she was standing that Brittany was getting overwhelmed so she walked across the stage and she gently touched Brittany's shoulder. Without hesitation Brittany launched herself into Santana's embrace and Santana held her there and let her cry. "Baby, it's ok, you earned this and all these people know that." Brittany muttered something that Santana didn't catch. "Britt, look at me and say that again." The blonde lifted her head off the Latina's shoulder and took a deep breath. "He, my dad… he said I'd never be anything more that a dumb blonde, but I did this, I did something good." Santana nodded her head and in an effort to choke back tears she spoke slowly, "You deserve this, they are clapping for you because you did something that few others could have done, you were a hero to people that day and you also managed to improve your grades. You did it all and got into a fantastic college so fuck what your dad said, he no longer gets to say anything about your life. You aren't a dumb anything, you are the greatest person I know and I love you so very much and I can't begin to tell you how proud I am of all you have done. You deserve this." Brittany wrapped Santana into another hug and they stayed like that for a little while and not once did the standing ovation stop or slow down. They slowly pulled away and both of them returned to their seats and allowed for the graduation to continue with Figgins handing out the actual diplomas. When she was handed her diploma Brittany looked like a child on Christmas morning; everyone is excited to graduate, but it meant just a little bit more to her.

When the last name was called and the graduate had all returned to their seats Figgins introduced them as the graduating class of 2012. The kids took of their caps and threw them into the air and cheered that they had done it. Santana quickly found Brittany and the other Glee kids and headed to the choir room for pictures. They wanted to be together and get group shots with each other and then with their families. Somehow they all managed to squeeze together, all the kids and their families, in order to take the ultimate group shot. As things winded down parents encouraged their children to say their goodbyes for the day so they could all head home to their parties. All the kids looked at each other, but none of them moved. Finally Santana stood up on a chair so that all of them could see and hear her.

"Look everyone, goodbyes suck ass; we all know that. And I don't want to do it anymore than any one of you guys, but the truth is we have too and sometimes being an adult means doing things you don't like. This is not goodbye forever, we will see each other before we leave for school and before the summer is over, I promise you that. But today we have to hug and say goodbye or farewell for now if that makes you feel better. Glee brought us together, it made us strong, it made us family and nothing can ever change what we made here. Now I for one think that we have one more song left in us, what do you say?" Everyone clapped and cheered so Santana tossed her phone to Brittany who plugged it into the speakers and pressed play. Santana got down off the chair and started in on the song.

**Take a look around  
Who would have thought we'd all be here?  
So let's mess around  
Cause the future is unclear  
We got nothing better to do  
We're just trying to get through  
Can you hear me? (She grabbed Brittany by the hand and started dancing with her.)  
Can you hear me?  
Yeah  
**

Soon all the club was dancing around and singing and their families sat back and watched their children enjoy one more Glee memory.

**Let the music groove you  
Let the melody move you  
Feel the beat and just let go  
Get the rhythm into your soul  
Let the music take you  
Anywhere it wants to  
When we're stuck and can't get free  
No matter what, we'll still be singing  
Come on, come on  
Turn up the music  
It's all we got  
We're gonna use it  
Come on, come on  
Turn up the music  
Yeah  
**

**(Quinn)  
All we have is now  
Let's make the most of this  
Come on break it out  
So everyone can hear it**

**(Rachel)  
They don't have to understand  
But we'll make them if we can  
Do you hear me?  
Are you with me?  
Yeah**

Let the music groove you  
Let the melody move you  
Feel the beat and just let go  
Get the rhythm into your soul  
Let the music take you  
Anywhere it wants to  
When we're stuck and can't get free  
No matter what, we'll still be singing

Come on, come on  
Turn up the music  
It's all we got  
We're gonna use it  
Come on, come on  
Turn up the music  
Yeah

Come on, come on  
Turn up the music  
It's all we got  
We're gonna use it  
Come on, come on  
Turn up the music

Let the music groove you  
Let the melody move you  
Feel the beat and just let go  
Get the rhythm into your soul  
Let the music take you  
Anywhere it wants to  
When we're stuck and can't get free  
No matter what, we'll still be singing

Come on, come on  
Turn up the music  
It's all we got  
We're gonna use it  
Feel the beat and just let go  
Get the rhythm into your soul

Let the music take you  
Anywhere it wants to  
Come on, come on  
Turn up the music  
Yeah

When the music died there were tears that finally got shed, I love you's that finally got said and hugs that seemed to hang on a little tighter. High school was over and for better or worse they were forever changed by it, but something about leaving this room seemed so final. One at a time they walked out with their families, and soon it was just Santana and Brittany and this time it was Santana who needed one more moment in the room so Brittany gladly stood outside with Angela. Santana walked around the room once more and paused at the white board. She picked up a white board pen and quickly wrote a message before making her way to the door. She looked over her shoulder one last time only to be stopped by Brittany, "hey, what is it you are always telling me, never look back, always move forward."

Santana smiled and took Brittany's hand as they walked away from the empty choir room in referent silence. At the end of the day Will went into the choir room to get his things and he noticed the message on the board.

'A successful person is one who can lay a firm foundation with the bricks that others throw at him.' Never give up and find peace in the family you create here. May your Gleek Flag live on forever and accept no one's definition of you, define yourself.

Don't Stop Believin'

Signed,

Private first class Santana Lopez and the Glee Class of 2012

**So that concludes this story, but fear not for I have a sequel ready in my mind and I totally have their children named already so I am in this for the long haul. I apologize for the long wait, but I just moved from San Francisco to Chicago and things have been crazy busy. But now I am set up and have internet so we are good to go folks. Review if you want to see anything specific in the sequel and I'll see you there. Thank you all for reading and all your support.**


	45. Sequel Coming Soon

So part of me wants to skip ahead to the end of their senior year of college so we can get to the wedding and graduations etc. Let me know what you guys think: straight to graduation or a little insight into college time. I think I am leaning toward the straight to graduation one but I want to see what you all think.


	46. Sequel Up and Running

The new story/ sequel is up on my page. Enjoy.


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